! Murcia Today – Illegal Homes And Unsafe Toilets Taped Off At Villas Caravaning Campsite In Cartagena

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The city council has acted to halt what it considers “unauthorised activity” and to ensure user safety, as well as to prevent the notorious campsite covertly turning into a residential area

The move follows safety inspections from the council that found the sanitary facilities at the site to be in a state of ruin, posing a “serious risk to users”.

Despite these warnings and the ongoing ban, the campsite operator has continued to develop the site, including connecting the new homes to water and wastewater systems. There are now further investigations underway into possible illegal connections to gas and sewage networks made without oversight or approval.

The most recent inspection confirmed that several communal toilet blocks are structurally unsound and unusable. These have now been sealed, although one module has been deemed safe and will remain in use.

The campsite originally received an operating licence in 1985 under different ownership. The current use of the land, however, does not comply with the terms of that licence. An application for a new licence, submitted in 2020, was refused two years later, prompting legal action by the company which is still ongoing.

Cartagena city council has emphasised that these measures are intended to safeguard public safety and prevent the illegal transformation of land which is currently designated for tourism and public purposes into a permanent residential zone where people live on a fixed basis illegally.

Images: Ayuntamiento de Cartagena