Quite a few years back we published an article about the bridge over Río Guadalfeo that was to both connect the Salobreña seafront to Motril’s Playa Granada, as well as to give alternative access to the N-340 Granada junction.
The said bridge had stood completed for some time, with no way to get off it on the other side until, finally, locals could use it after the small roundabout on the Motril side was finished and access given to the narrow asphalted lane that leads around the vega.
Yet here we are, several years down the line, and the foreseen beach road to connect with Playa Granada stands conspicuous by its absence. So, there it has stood since the official inauguration in 2007, by the then Mayor of Salobreña, Avelino Mendéndez… bereft of its raison d’etre.
What is really missing is the TH2, or in other words, the hotel development plan, because on the other side of the bridge the land belongs to Salobreña; not Motril. However, there are no development companies or hotel firms interested in building there – such is the lack of investment in these difficult times.
Turistico Hotelero TH2, as the area is known, comprises of 900,000 sq/m of beachfront land, 50% of which is owned by Comarex and Alcaidesa (BBVA). When the new PGOU was drawn up between 2003 and 2007, it contained a clause that allowed for the land to switch over to 60% residential, 20% tourist residential and 20% hotel use, should the 100% hotel use turn out non-viable. This turned out to be a legal no-no.
A new regional law limited the degree of urban expansion of municipalities in Andalucia, impeding the TH2 and the PGOU that included it. The developers who were originally behind the TH2 had already handed over 2,730,000 euros to the Town Hall which should be still be in the municipal bank account and strictly ‘untouchable.’ Some doubt it still exists.
The history of the bridge: in 1985 the bridge project was approved in a council plenary meeting with a budget of 114m pesetas (684,000 euros). In 1987 it received approval from the Junta and the first stone was laid in November 2001. One year later, nothing had moved but to make matters worse, the Confederacion Hidrólogica ruled that the project had to be modified – with the alterations the budget increased to 214m pesetas (1.28m euros). Finally in October 2003 the bridge was finished but there was no way onto it or off it from either side of the river.
On a final note, the new PGOU includes another bridge further inland…
(News: Salobrena, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)