Planning row in Marbella as activists slam €350m hotel that will ‘severely damage’ stretch of virgin coast – but developers claim it will improve the site

GREEN groups are fuming over plans to build a giant luxury hotel complex on one of Marbella’s last remaining stretches of virgin coast. 

The €350 million ‘Las Dunas Club’ project will see 170 homes going up alongside a 150-bedroom hotel beside the Playa Real de Zaragoza dunes.

The five-star scheme, near Las Mimosas beach, will take over a staggering 154,170 m2 site.

While developers Platinum Estates claim the project will protect the dunes, ecologists insist the construction will ‘severely damage the environment’.

Ecologistas Malaka insists the area is an ‘important ecosystem that must be protected.’ 

“You can’t pick and choose which bits you build on or take away, the dunes are a living ecosystem,” spokesman Javier de Luis told the Olive Press.

“This is one of the few plots of coastal land in Marbella that hasn’t been built on, it’s a miracle it has survived this long.”

De Luis added that 90% of the coastline is already developed between Cabopino and central Marbella. 

“They say they will protect the dunes, but this will damage them forever,” he added.

“What they should do is clean them up so locals can go there.”

However, developers point out the land has been classified as ‘public and buildable’ for many years.

They add the dunes have not been preserved or protected by the authorities and have become something of a ‘dumping ground’. 

It has taken over eight years for the project to be approved after various changes at the request of the Junta. 

To add insult to injury the Junta has approved changes to Marbella’s 1986 PGOU planning law, allowing developers to ignore a rule meaning 30% of construction must be public housing.

The hotel was originally envisaged to be for the Marriott Group and later part of the upmarket W chain, but now it is unclear which group will eventually run it.

Spokesperson for Platinum Estates, Luis Segalerva said: “We will respect the dunes, that has been on our minds since we bought the land. We don’t just want to respect it but regenerate and clean it.

“It’s the best beachfront in Marbella precisely because it’s a dune. We’re going to clean it and have a Cadiz style beach but without the wind.”