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THOUSANDS of locals and expats have mobilised against plans to build a luxury hotel in the heart of a protected natural park in Andalucia. Developers are set to construct a fourstar resort close to the untouched beach of Los Genoveses in the stunning Cabo de Gata nature reserve in Almeria. It is one of the final few stretches of Spain’s Mediterranean coast that has
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in Tarifa UPROAR: Beach protestors San Pedro (below) and virgin Cala de
- once The hulking shell of concrete resort - has set for a 311-room mega years after remained an eyesore forcourts. By Dilip Kuner work was halted by thedug to stop a Bunkers are also being near are in 700-home golf course scheme, SWATHES of rural Andalucia over after the developNerja, which will see danger of being concretedbrought in del Sol’s ment of one of the Costacoast. a new planning law was final stretches of pristine are also by the regional government. EcologisAnd protesters in Mijaslaw being Green groups including have digging in to stop theoverlooking tas en Accion and Greenpeace local assoused to build in woods joined with hundreds of of new sea at El Chaparral. the Algarrobico ciations to fight on a series LEGAL?: the COVID SOON many planned protests fronts opened up during on virgin The first ofoutside council offices in one, but TWO new hotels took place crisis. over the so- beaches in the supposedly protect- la Cala de Mijas this week. They are up in arms during ed natural park of Cabo de Gata. It could also see the controversial called LISTA law - passed set to allow The first involves the green light for Valdevaqueros project of hundreds the lockdown - that is proj- a 30-room hotel near the globally go up on a heavily-prodozens of previously outlawed Genoveses of homes beach, near Tarifa. famous Bahia de Los tected virgin ects to go ahead. are outraged beach, while the second is for a two- Under the recently resubmitted In particular, activists new golf to the pristine Cala project, backed by TV celebrity Ana about a controversial as a final star hotel close (pictured above). the stunning area de San Pedro bay Quintana, Rosa course in Nerja, as well also law will Bolonia and Tarifa would Protestors fear the new stand of woodland in Mijas. about not now allow the legalization of nearby between of hotels get built. They are also furious El Algarro- see a seriesare also worried that the bico hotel, Ecologists for two-golf dis- Los Merinos project built and hundreds of housgracefully courses UNESCO-protected virgin on a virgin es on Ronda could be revived, Subeach, near land near being quashed by the Carboneras, despiteCourt. See page 24 due to a preme page 6 planning Fairway to hell: See mix up.
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coast endangered Last stretches of pristine de inland beauty spots by new law, alongsi
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September’s figure is the lowest since March 2021, when the rate of inflation was just 1.3%, and is a far cry from 2022 when a rise in global energy prices and the war in Ukraine provoked a surge in inflation to above 10%. The INE attributes the drop in the rate of inflation to falling prices for fuel, food, electricity and leisure and cultural activities. They also say that Spain’s + + GDP grew by 0.9% in the first Tel: 952 147 834 quarter, higher than expected, and that the economy is set to952 147 834 grow at an annual rate of 3.1%, six-tenths of a percentage point greater than originally CAMPAIGN: How predicted. the Olive Press first HES CAMPAIGN TO OLIVE PRESS LAUNC
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reported on the Les Genoveses scheme, and (right) the nearby Algarrobico hotel disgrace is till not resolved
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Hands off awardwinning virgin beach as locals and expats clash over luxury development of pig farm step closer. It comes after the mayor, Jose Garrido, announced in July he will allow construction on the rustic land. He was backed by the PP-run Junta last year which somehow gave environmental authorisation for the project. A similar nearby project, the Algarrobico hotel also built on a virgin beach in Cabo de Gata has been mired in 20 years of controversy after it was ordered to be demolished for breaking numerous laws. The latest decisions have sparked outrage among locals, who gathered in their thousands at the weekend. The Genoveses Sin Hotel group organised a march on the Almeria seafront, with supporters unfurling banners and chanting slogans. Meanwhile, a total of 4,000 people have lodged official individual complaints with the town hall. And 260,000 people have signed an online petition demanding the project be stopped. “It is still possible to stop it, but for that to happen we have to mobilise,”
said Celine Feutry, president of the platform. “There is no social or economic benefit for the locals, the interest is merely private and for a company that already owns many other hotels in the area.” Despite this, Enrique Ruiz, from the Friends of Cabo de Gata-Nijar Park association, said the planned hotel was being declared ‘of economic and social interest’ to get the green light. “But they must also prove job creation, sustainability and other positive impacts on the environment and economy,” he explained.
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Feutry warned the council that ‘we will go to court’ if the project gets the go ahead. She said the area of the proposed hotel is only allowed to be used for agriculture, adding: “If the council authorises it, a dangerous precedent will be created because it would give the owners of all the farms in the area the green light to build accommodation.” The Olive Press has long campaigned for protection in the area, with a campaign against the Algarrobico hotel which we dubbed ‘El Horrible’ - and also to urgently protect the chapel Cortijo del Fraile, which is where celebrated writer Gabriel García Lorca set his famous book Blood Wedding. Opinion Page 6
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not been built on. The firm Torres y Gonzalez Diaz wants to turn abandoned Las Chiqueras estate - formerly a pig farm - into a 30-room hotel with 70 parking spaces. The exclusive retreat will count on multiple swimming pools and stunning unspoilt views of the beach, often voted one of Spain’s finest. The firm, which owns numerous hotels, has been fighting environmentalists to get its plans approved since 2016. Now, alarmingly, thanks to a new right-wing coalition of Vox and the PP in the local town hall of Nijar, which administers the park, they are one
By Laurence Dollimore
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THE rate of inflation in Spain has fallen to its lowest level in threeand-a-half years in welcome news for the country’s economy. Preliminary figures published by the National Statistics Institute (INE) show that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for September fell to 1.5%, the fourth consecutive monthly fall and a steady decrease from August when the figure stood at 2.2%. The CPI measures the average change over time in the prices paid by consumers for a representative basket of consumer goods and services.
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PROTEST: Thousands took to the Almeria seafront to demonstrate against the plan