3 Nov, 2024 @ 12:00
1 min read

End of ‘El Horrible’: The 411-room illegal Algarrobico hotel in Almeria that could be demolished within months after 20 years of campaigning

el algarrobico e

GREEN groups are coming closer to celebrating a two decade battle against one of the worst environmental abuses in Spanish history.

Ecologistas en Accion and Greenpeace – along with the Olive Press – have been campaigning against the enormous El Algarrobico hotel built on a virgin beach in a protected green zone in Andalucia for 20 years.

Algarrobico Hotel illegal e
Algarrobico Hotel

Now it is set to be finally demolished within the next few months, after an agreement between the government and Carboneras town hall, in Almeria. 

The work will be led by Madrid while the Junta will take care of the residue and restore the land to how it was. 

“We will be able to start the demolition and return this illegally developed area to the locals and to nature within six months,” said Environment Minister Catalina Garcia. 

Construction on the 411-room monstrosity – dubbed ‘El Horrible’ by the Olive Press – was started in the Cabo de Gata Nature Natural Park, in 2003.

It came after planners at Carboneras town hall illegally altered zoning rules to allow a developer, Azata del Sol, to begin work.

The project had first got planning permission in the 1980s before the area had been officially included in the park.

Numerous protests fell on deaf ears until activists daubed the hotel ‘illegal’ in giant letters, and turned it into an international environmental story.

Andalucia’s High Court now needs to ratify the decision to officially declare the land ‘non developable’.

The court has also opened a period of suggestions from local environmental groups, including Salvemos Mojacar, which was heavily involved in fighting the scheme.

They will have some say in how best to restore the area.

Yzabelle Bostyn

Yzabelle Bostyn is an NCTJ trained journalist who started her journalistic career at the Olive Press in 2023.
Before moving to Spain, she studied for a BA in English Literature and Hispanic Studies at the University of Sheffield.
After graduating she moved to the university’s journalism department, one of the best in the UK.
Throughout the past few years, she has taken on many roles including social media marketing, copywriting and radio presenting.
She then took a year out to travel Latin America, scaling volcanoes in Guatemala and swimming with sharks in Belize.
Then, she came to the Olive Press last year where she has honed her travel writing skills and reported on many fantastic experiences such as the Al Andalus luxury train.
She has also undertaken many investigations, looking into complex issues like Spain’s rental crisis and rising cancer rates.
Always willing to help, she has exposed many frauds and scams, working alongside victims to achieve justice.
She is most proud of her work on Nolotil, a drug linked to the deaths of many Brits in Spain.
A campaign launched by Yzabelle has received considerable support and her coverage has been by the UK and Spanish media alike.
Her writing has featured on many UK news outlets from the Sun to the Mail Online, who contracted her to report for them in Tenerife on growing tourism issues.
Recently, she has appeared on Times Radio covering deadly flooding in Valencia.

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