Malaga Town Halls are steaming ahead with new Projects

Prompted by the deadline of next year’s May council election, Malaga Province’s Town Halls are getting ready to push through a number of pet projects that have been lying dormant for a number of years. Millions of Euros of investment funds are being released for municipal projects across the province, from Malaga to Marbella and elsewhere at the Costa del Sol.

Local residents are watching the developments with some alarm, for they will be the ones bearing the brunt of the inconvenience that comes with street improvements, road resurfacing works and major construction sites.

Major new Attractions planned

While pretty much everyone will be in favour of new green zones to be created, such as Benetiz Park in Malaga City or the River Park in Fuengirola, not everyone is convinced the Costa del Sol needs a Pompidou or Russian museum.

San Pedro Alcántara, a favourite with Marbella holiday home buyers, is to get a shiny new boulevard, whereas Mijas will see its historic parts improved and brought up to modern standards. Coin will see improvements to its access road and Estepona will receive a major new shopping centre and a new botanical garden.

In Velez Town Hall enthusiasm for spending before elections will create the Cerro de los Remedios Gardens, while Rincón de la Victoria will see the creation of new urban green spaces and a park.

Naturally, these projects are designed to make the province a better place for both holidaymakers and local residents, but after three years of spending cuts and tightened belts it is blatantly obvious that money is being found just in time for projects to be either finished just prior to elections or at least to be well under way. Whatever the reasons for this municipal spending spree, the various projects will create new jobs, and will help improve local economies.

Rejuvenating Ports and Town Centres

Construction companies in particular are happy about the Town Councils’ decision to press ahead with major projects. The redevelopment of the “Cube” in Malaga Port into the Pompidou Museum, the only Pompidou Centre located outside of France, will cost Malaga Town Council and the tax payer an estimated EUR 4.2 million. In total, Malaga Province is scheduled to spend in the region of EUR 129.3 million across various projects. The “Cube” contract will be valid for 35 years, with an option to extend after that period expires.

Malaga is rapidly becoming an art lovers’ paradise, with the Picasso Museum thriving, and the Carmen Thyssen Malaga Museum and the CAC Contemporary Art Museum both having become major tourist attractions.

The old Tabacalera Building will be transformed and become a branch of the Russian State Museum of Saint Petersburg. Both museums are the pet projects of Malaga’s Mayor Francisco de la Torre, the driving force behind the spending spree. According to a statement made by the City Council:  “Works displayed in Malaga will range from a variety of Byzantine-inspired icons to social realism of the Soviet era.”

Both projects should please Russian and French residents living at the Costa del Sol and will undoubtedly bring more tourism to Malaga City.

Violeta Aragón, General Secretary of the Association of Constructors and Developers, expressed her joy at the various projects finally going ahead. “We are delighted, independently of whether it is because politicians want their work to be noted before the start of the electoral campaign. We wish there could be elections every year!”

One of the largest construction projects is scheduled to take place in Estepona near Marbella, where a Grand Boulevard is going to be built to generate more tourism, better retail facilities and where the creation of a recreational centre should lure more Costa del Sol residents into the town centre, too.

The project is mostly privately funded, with the Town Council providing EUR 2.3 million for a new botanical garden that will be home to Europe’s largest orchid collection. The Grand Boulevard project is scheduled to cost an estimated EUR 30 million and should put Estepona firmly on the map as a desirable destination for future holiday home buyers.