Malaga’s long-promised green lung on the former Repsol site looks set to take shape at last, it has emerged.
City officials have confirmed that tenders for the project – which includes a 65,000-square-metre park between Avenidas Juan XXIII and de la Aurora – could be launched in 2026, with funding earmarked in next year’s budget.
The City Council, which holds a majority stake (56.8%) in the Repsol redevelopment, has decided to push ahead with the urbanisation phase after a court order temporarily froze the planned auction of building rights for three of the four residential towers originally envisioned.
Planning approval for the urbanisation works – first initiated in 2020 – is now in its final phase.
The design, produced by Malaga-based architects HCP, carries a €24 million price tag and recently obtained environmental clearance from the regional government.
That approval confirmed the land’s soil decontamination studies meet environmental standards.
Although the Bosque Urbano citizens’ platform has appealed the permit, there is currently no injunction preventing construction.
The development will include three major components built at the same time:
- A four-storey underground car park for almost 700 vehicles, budgeted at €7.8 million.
- The road network and infrastructure surrounding the park and future buildings, including a new stretch of Avenida Adolfo Suárez built above the AVE tunnel, valued at €9.9 million.
- And the main park area, costing €5.9 million, which will transform more than six hectares into landscaped green space.
The new park will feature a 3,500-square-metre lake, two wooden bridges, three grassy hills, and around 750 trees from 60 different species.
Visitors will also find two dog zones, two children’s playgrounds, sports areas, and a 1.5-kilometre running and walking circuit.
Other details include a night-time enclosure, 12 entry points, and an open-air amphitheatre for about 750 spectators. Irrigation will use recycled groundwater pumped from the metro system.
If all goes to plan, work could begin in 2026, turning a long-derelict plot – once the site of the Repsol refinery – into one of Málaga’s largest urban parks.
