Site of new hotel
One moment we are wallowing in the midst of a global crisis, with nothing but gloom on the horizon, and the next – within the same week – we hear that not only is Salobreña’s La Caleta going to have the long-awaited marina, but also that Almuñécar is going to have a 7-star hotel… and that’s not a numerical misprint: seven stars.
Camelot and Piraeus
I think that ‘stunned’ probably sums up the reaction of the inhabitants of Salobreña and Almuñécar upon hearing the double-whammy news. There’s been no real good news for months and nobody had much hope for 2011, let alone the rest of this year, but now the clouds appear to have parted.
La Caleta from El Peñon
Let’s talk about the marina in La Caleta, first. The project was born in 1989 and ever since then it has simmered, until now. The project requires 84,000 sq/m of land, as well as two dock walls; one of 550m in length and the other 110m, giving anchorage and up to 316 berths. The project also includes 444 housing units, as well as the star attraction of a sugar-cane museum on the site of the old factory.
Without a shadow of doubt the project, which will not have to wait upon the final approval of the regional development plan in which it is included, will give a tremendous push to the hotels project that will see four large hotels between the marina and the whaleback rock (El Peñon.)
As for Almuñécar’s truly amazing windfall, the hotel – there is only one other hotel like it in the whole of Europe – it will give employment to 600 staff and have 200 luxury rooms and has a budget of a staggering 230 million euros.
I can sit here every day, whinging about the blue zones, but the mere fact that this international Danish company has chosen Almuñécar demonstrates that the town has a tremendous tourist potential. The first hotel of this standing to be built in the world was in Dubai and is called the Burj Al Arab.
The name for the new hotel, which will be built on the Peñon del Lobo (above la Playa del Muerto) will be El Bahia Fenicia 7E and will be administered by the prestigious Banyan Tree Holding, which is a world leader in tourist resort development.
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