DOZENS of expats have joined farmers and locals to protest a plan to plough up an area of virgin coastland to build a golf course.
The demonstrators are up in arms that a wealthy landowner plans to evict hundreds of farmers for the mega project of over 600 luxury villas on the Costa del Sol.
Holding placards reading ‘more farms, less concrete’ and ‘save nature,’ they made their voices heard at the protest at Maro, east of Malaga.
Live music set the scene as protesters voiced their opposition to the development, which they describe as a ‘desecration’ of the Vega de Maro – an area with protected status.
The demonstration comes after landowner Larios demolished at least three properties on the Vega over the past two months. It followed an announcement in December that the wealthy family would terminate around 450 long-standing leases in the area to make way for a luxury resort dubbed ‘Maro Golf.’
The project, which includes a golf course, around 680 luxury villas, and three large hotels, is set to turf more than 80 families from their homes after decades on the Vega.
Protest organiser Oscar Lobo, of farmers’ group Asociacion por Maro y su Agricultura, told the Olive Press: “They need us out of the way to move on with the project.
“They think they can just have it their way.”.
Tenants of two of the demolished properties had already vacated when the bulldozers came, locals have confirmed.
But according to multiple sources, the third home still had tenant Loli Rodriguez’s belongings and two cats inside when it was knocked down.
Larios’ ambitions appeared to face a setback on Friday when Nerja town hall announced the land could not immediately be reclassified for development under the current proposals.
The project, which was drafted around six years ago, failed to comply with Andalucia’s latest land-use rules, officials have confirmed to the Olive Press.
However, pessimistic locals insist the decision may only delay the project, warning that Larios is likely to soon submit a revised version that more closely complies with the new regulations.
“Larios must have known its project was outdated,” Lobo explained. “It will simply apply for a fresh licence once a new draft is ready.”
Despite the setback, protesters have said demolitions are still expected to continue – as Larios also has a back-up plan for the Vega, according to reports.
Company spokespersons said last year that, if the Vega remained classified as agricultural land, Larios would still evict its current tenants and convert it into an ‘intensive avocado plantation’.
But British farmer Jack Whitfield, also of AMA, believes it would merely be a ‘stepping stone’ toward the tourism complex anyway.
“This project has been planned for a long time,” he told the Olive Press. “Once we are gone, there will be nothing to stop the golf course.
“They can plant their avocados now, wait for a few years until they get the permit, and then build their golf course right beside their plantation.”
Whitfield also warned that replacing small farms with ‘high-water use’ avocado production could be just as damaging to the environment.
“Most of us are small farmers, and our land supports a wide variety of crops,” he said. “We have maintained the irrigation channels ourselves and sell locally in Nerja. It is a sustainable system – yet they want to replace it with a water-intensive plantation.”
Environmental groups Greenpeace and Ecologistas en Accion have criticised the project, arguing it could threaten Maro’s fragile ecosystem and worsen long-standing water shortages in the region.
“If we have to choose between food production and a golf course, we stand with agriculture,” a Greenpeace spokesperson told the Olive Press last month.
It remains unclear how Larios intends to proceed following Friday’s town hall meeting.
“But whether it’s a golf course, an avocado plantation, or both, keeping us in the dark plays right into their hands,” Lobo said.
“This project really affects the public and the whole local community – and the minute they commit to something concrete, you bet there’ll be backlash to face.”
In the meantime, the farmers say they are prepared to press ahead with their fight.
Valerie Del Bosque, a farmer who has lived in Maro for 26 years, said: “Tourists come here precisely because this coastline remains unspoiled.
“It is a place where people live in harmony with nature,” she added. “Why turn it into yet another golf course and block of concrete?”
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