THE usually-dry Guadalmedina river that runs through the centre of Malaga could soon have an all-together different look after local lawmakers pushed ahead with plans to build a series of criss-crossing garden plaza bridges.
The city council’s Local Government Board has formally tabled a request for a €1 million grant from the Andalucia regional government to draft the project, which officials hope will transform the riverbed into a green corridor connecting both sides of the city.
They also say the change will help to improve flood risk management.
Under the proposal, five garden plazas will be built above a stretch of the river between the Armiñán and Perchel bridges.
As part of the works, engineers will have to lower the riverbed.
The city council believes construction could begin as soon as next year, with an estimated timeframe of around 18 months pencilled in to complete administrative procedures and finalise the project design.
Speaking last year, councillor Maria Penelope Gomez Jimenez said the initiative would ‘gain citizen space’ and make it easier to go back and forth across the river.
“We want to bury the avenues of Fatima and Rosaleda and maintain the main function of the river, to protect the city in case of flooding,” she said.
“This way, we will create a great green corridor, we will gain more space for residents and improve the connection between both banks of the river.”
The Guadalmedina river runs for 47 kilometres from its source in the Sierra de Camarolos mountain range, down through the Montes de Malaga natural park before splitting Malaga city in two where it enters the Mediterranean sea.
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