The brick frenzy seems to have recovered from the 2008 economic crisis when the building sector laid in (unfinished) ruins.

Take the case of Lagos (Vélez-Málaga), where a leading development company plans to build a housing development right next to a national monument; an atalaya (coastal-defence, lookout tower).

The project, Proa, consists of the construction of 45 dwellings with a budget of 14.6m euros. However, the project has met considerable rejection from locals as the company plans to build at the very foot of this protected monument.

The locals are collecting signatures, in person on the streets, as well as online (Change.org), demanding that the responsible administrations halt the project immediately, because of it proximity to the monument.

The text that accompanies the online, signature-collection states that the lookout tower was built in the 15th Century and has been declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (BIC). The locals say that it is part of the local historic heritage and that its surrounding area (up to 200 metres) is protected, according to the Catálogo Municipal de Bienes Protegidos.

However, the Vélez-Málaga Town Hall approved this development project even though between 12 and 15 dwellings are only 40 metres from the base of the tower.

For a Town Hall to issue a building licence, it first has to be cleared by the Junta de Andalucía’s Board of Culture. Whether this was obtained or not is not clear, and if it were, such a project plainly contradicts the heritage protection that its BIC gives the tower.

The Vice-Mayor for the Mezquitilla y Lagos, David Vilches (GIPMTM), assures that the development, “appears to have all the technical and judicial reports in its favour, according to what the PP Councillor for Urban Development, Celestino Rivas, has informed me.” He concluded that he hears and understands the complaints, but if the development has all the required permits there is nothing that he can do.

(News: Lago, Vélez-Málaga, Axarquia, Costa del Sol, Malaga, Andalucia)

Keywords: Building Development, Proa, Atalaya, Lookout Tower, Heritage, Protected, Local Opposition

news, andalucia, malaga, costa del sol, axarquia, velez-malaga, lagos, building development, proa, atalaya, lookout tower, heritage, protected, local opposition

Reader’s comment: “Sounds suspicious, I wonder if there’s some beneficial lubrication involved?” – George