The new, marina project planned for in front of the Paseo Reina Sofía in Almuñécar moves forward, it is being put forward for public scrutiny so that objections can be considered.

The Agencia Pública de Puertos de Andalucía (APPA) submitted the viability report so that members of the public can place any objections to the marina; i,e., its siting and scope, etc, during a period of 30 days. After that, each one objection will be considered and either accepted or rejected.

The project, which includes 511 berths for boats between eight and 25 metres in length, was sent in to the APPA by the Sociedad Gestión Puerto de Almuñécar, S.L. It also includes a dry storage of some 2,275 sq/m over four levels with space for 180 small craft, a launching ramp or slip way of 7,059 sq/m, a car park for 435 vehicles and a commercial area of 4,904 sq/m. All this would require a budget of 69,204,893 euros.

Construction work would take two years, providing employment during this stage, as well as jobs once the new, marina businesses are up and running.

Editorial comment: even after this 30-day period, there are still a mountain of bureaucratic hurdles to jump, starting with the SGPA having to submit a daft, construction project, which will also have to pass a period of public inspection.

Secondly, “what you take from the sea, the sea will take it back from elsewhere” is a pearl of wisdom that local, old fisherfolk will tell you. Basically if you build out into the sea a massive structure, such as a marina, it might well have a detrimental affect on nearby beaches; i.e.erosion. This is what happened when they built the water park on reclaimed land.

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