Urban development law blocks plans for major hotel and golf project on the Costa del Sol

The future urban development project on some 200 hectares of the Vega de Maro in Nerja on the eastern Costa del Sol, which includes a golf course, some 500 homes and three hotels, remains blocked by a conflict of interpretation over the applicable urban planning regulations. Meanwhile the developer, Sociedad Azucarera Larios, is moving forward with a major reorganisation of the land, terminating nearly 400 agricultural lease agreements.

The project, planned since 2015, remains stalled after an initial document on progress in the strategic environmental assessment published in 2023, due to a disagreement between the Andalusian regional government and the company’s legal services on whether to follow the provisions of the Law on the Promotion of Sustainability in Andalusia (LISTA) or to innovate on the current planning regulations in accordance with the previous LOUA, under which the project was initially conceived. This situation has forced Nerja town hall to have to wait for a final decision from the regional government before being able to moving forward with the project.

In parallel with this administrative blockade, as SUR reported in December, Larios has notified the termination of the lease agreements for some 400 agricultural plots on the land, most of which are used as allotments and, in some cases, as permanent residences in self-built structures that were originally tool sheds. According to company sources, only about 50 tenants are professionally engaged in agriculture, while the rest use the land for leisure purposes, many of whom are foreigners or non-residents in the area.

Termination of contracts

The company has given one year’s notice of the termination of the contracts, with staggered expiry dates until the summer of 2026. “This is the final step in a planning process that began more than two decades ago,” says Larios, recalling the investment made in the early 2000s to resolve the historic rural contracts following the conflict with the former tenant farmers. The aim now is to return the land to strictly agricultural use while the legal horizon for planning is cleared.

The next step will be a comprehensive “clean-up” of the plots, which cover around 150 hectares, involving the demolition of irregular constructions, the removal of deposits and waste management. Company sources have admitted to SUR that the process will be costly, but they argue that it is necessary to eliminate illegal settlements and reconfigure an agricultural landscape that, over the years, has become filled with scattered buildings and unauthorised uses.

Meanwhile, Larios is continuing with the planning process to enable a large tourist complex to be built on land currently classified as non-developable and under special agricultural protection in the PGOU (General Urban Development Plan). The project includes a golf course on the coastline south of the old N-340 road, up to three hotels with around 700 rooms, one of them in the old San Joaquín and Santa Ana factory and around 500 homes. The company stresses that the easternmost part of the estate, within the protected Maro-Cerro Gordo cliffs area, would be preserved without any urban development.

Disputes

The developer has said: “We don’t want to get into any disputes with the regional government” and claim they are working “hand in hand” with the Junta de Andalucía, while maintaining that it will be up to the legal services to determine whether the regional interpretation can prevail over state legislation on administrative procedure, with regard to the right to initiate urban planning proceedings.

The company says that the project, known as “Maro Golf”, is “exciting” and destined to place Nerja and the Axarquía “at the forefront of the Costa del Sol due to its innovative and sustainable nature”. However, it acknowledges that the most immediate impact is the eviction of families and farmers, a circumstance that has already caused concern among those affected, some of whom have announced that they are considering legal action.

Speaking at the last full council meeting, mayor of Nerja, José Alberto Armijo (PP), said in response to a request from the opposition socialist PSOE group about the Maro valley, that “at the moment it looks like the agricultural use of these lands is going to continue” and that “it seems that, in terms of urban planning, the project is not going to develop as initially planned and we may soon have news in this regard. Therefore, we must focus on the agricultural use of this land”.

The Nerja PSOE group has warned of the concern among farmers in Maro over the possible termination of the 400 land lease contracts, saying that it “jeopardises the future of many families and the agricultural identity of the town”. The socialists emphasise that much of the land affected is used for organic farming, with projects underway supported by European funds.

Socialist spokesperson Patricia Gutiérrez said in a statement that the uncertainty is causing “concern and sadness” among those affected, while councillor Alejandro Barba regrets that the situation may force many farmers to abandon land that has been worked for generations. Representatives from the sector and tenants warn of the “social and economic impact” that the loss of these farms would have.

Given this scenario, the PSOE has called on Nerja town hall to act as a mediator between the parties to seek alternatives that would allow the contracts to be maintained or reconfigured, allowing for the growth in organic farming and a preventing a growing production model in the Vega de Maro from being lost. Meanwhile, the major tourism project is still awaiting a legal ruling that will allow, or not, its final processing to be unblocked.