By Charlie Mullins
I ALMOST can’t believe the outrage in my own inner voice. How dare they come over here and concrete over one of the most beautiful and unspoilt coastal paradises in southern Spain!
For a moment, I wondered if I’d lost the plot entirely – maybe developed schizophrenia – and the voice in my head was some demented demon version of me.
But that can’t be right. I know the sort of nonsense that evil voice might come up with, and believe me, campaigning against idiotic town planning decisions wouldn’t be on the list.
No, what’s happened is this: I’ve become a NIMBY in Spain. Or as the Spanish put it, oposición a la ubicación de cualquier tipo de construcción o proyecto problemático en su vecindario. I didn’t see it coming, but here we are. Spain is now officially my backyard – and I’m all for keeping it nice, peaceful, and not sharing it with too many others.
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It’s a strange headspace to be in, especially for an expat Brit who’s dabbled in property out here. But angry I am – outraged, in fact – and I know I’m not alone.
From what I hear, aside from the local council in Tarifa, there aren’t many fans of the new mega-resort planned beside Los Lances beach – 730 ‘luxury’ homes and 1,360 hotel beds that the council’s shortsighted majority has just voted through.
I suppose the 16 councillors had Euro signs flashing in their eyes. Word is, this isn’t even a new idea – it’s a resurrection of an old scheme from the 1990s. Back then, it was rightly shelved, and one suspects the millions clouding judgment now may be Rubles, not Euros.
Thirty years ago, this stunning area didn’t even have a local environmental management plan. That lack helped kill the project then, so it’s hard to see how the current version – covering the size of 80 football pitches – is going to break ground anytime soon.
Yet, approved it has been, despite 157 formal objections, the presence of two national parks within metres of the site, and dire warnings about environmental disaster – all in a town already struggling to supply water to its existing population.
But don’t panic just yet. As I’ve said before, Spain has its own unique rhythm, especially when it comes to large-scale building projects.
As the old English adage goes: Rome wasn’t built in a day. Which is why I’m 100% certain these 2,000 homes and hotel beds won’t be rising from the sand in my lifetime – or in the lifetime of anyone currently breathing.
Why? Because, as I’ve come to appreciate, Spain has one glorious saving grace: layer upon layer of cascading red tape. Yes, it’s maddening at times – but it just might be the very thing that saves Tarifa.
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