The Motril Town Council intends to turn the old Alcoholera into a leisure complex, if they can change its land category through an adjustment to the PGOU.

A PGOU is a Plan General de Ordenación Urbana, or in other words, Municipal Urban Development Plan. It takes ages to get one through all the bureaucratic hoops imposed by the Junta and other administrations. So, towns tend to tweak them using Modificaciones Parciales, which have an easier time going through the Junta.

However, many towns come unstuck when they ‘over use’ them – Almuñécar under Juan Carlos Benavides is a case in point.

So, having explained that, back to what the Motril Town Hall plans for the old Alcoholera! The Mayor, Luisa García Chamorro, wants to put up for bidding 2,500 sq/m of land in its area where a multi-screen cinema will be built, as well as restaurants.

She says that this leisure epicentre will not only attract residents, but also residents of nearby municipalities, which will “revitalise” the Explanadas area of town, she considers.

Right now the PGOU adjustments are sitting in an in-tray on a Junta de Andalucía desk awaiting a green light from the Environmental Department. When the Town Hall gets it back, approved, then they can present it during a Plenary Meeting so that the restaurant and cinema plots can be put up for bidding.

As the land is publicly owned, it cannot be sold, but a private company can obtain the use of the plot and build their business project through a lease.

There are limitations to what can be done, amongst them, nobody can touch the chimney stack nor can a building be so high that it obstructs the view of the Cerro de la Virgen. The Mayor says that this will not be a problem because all of the complex will be semi-basement premises with only squares and gardened areas on top. In fact, of the 20,000 sq/m belonging to the Alcoholera, only 2,500 sq/m will be built on.

(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)