Environmental campaigners have vowed to fight plans for a luxury hotel on rural land beside Marbella’s La Cañada shopping centre.
The proposed five-star development would occupy land in the El Chorraero area, alongside the A-355 road connecting Marbella with Ojen.
Plans envisage up to 15,000 square metres of construction across a plot covering approximately 164,000 square metres.
The investment is expected to reach €60million and is being promoted by Marbella Leisureland Investments, a company linked to the same investment group as Magna Hotels & Resorts.
The latter was involved in transforming Marbella’s former Don Miguel hotel into the Club Med Magna Marbella.
Marbella Town Hall has admitted the application for processing as an ‘extraordinary development on rural land’.
This means the proposal can proceed through the planning process but does not constitute final permission to build.
Five objections to the project
Ecologistas Malaka has called on the council to reject the preliminary authorisation or, at minimum, suspend the application until what it considers the necessary reports and studies have been completed.
Its first objection concerns the proposed location on rural rather than urban land.
The group argues that developments of this scale should only be permitted in exceptional circumstances and that the promoter has not demonstrated why the hotel cannot be built on urban land.
Campaigners have also raised concerns about flooding because the Arroyo de la Represa crosses the plot.
They claim that constructing and paving over part of the 164,000-square-metre hillside could increase the volume of water flowing towards central Marbella.
They further allege that the existing flood study does not adequately account for climate change.
Traffic fears
The environmental group warned that the nearby junction between the AP-7 and A-355 is already heavily congested.
It argues that traffic pressures will intensify following the development of Marbella’s planned Palace of Justice, a new police station and the future expansion of La Cañada.
According to the campaigners, the hotel application does not include an adequate traffic study examining the cumulative impact of these projects.
Ecologistas Malaka also alleges that the proposal lacks the appropriate territorial and environmental-impact assessments.
The plot reportedly falls within a buffer area linked to the Sierra de las Nieves Biosphere Reserve and forms part of an ecological corridor used by wildlife from Sierra Blanca.
Heritage concerns
The group’s final objection relates to the Casa Labor Puerto Rico Bajo, a listed property located on the site.
The surrounding area also includes the historic Puente Palo, a 16th-century mill and remnants of Marbella’s mining past.
Campaigners claim the hotel proposal does not provide a sufficient plan to protect these heritage and landscape features.
The objections have been submitted under municipal planning file 39848/2024.
The developer and Marbella Town Hall have not yet responded to the allegations raised by Ecologistas Malaka.
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