The Mayor of Nerja, José Alberto Armijo, has announced the start of the administrative and urbanistic procedures to develop the El Playazo area and turn it into a huge hotel, residential, maritime and sporting complex, calling the project the ‘biggest news’ during his long tenure as Mayor.
The news follows the recent announcement that the National Government has initiated proceedings for the drafting of the project to build a promenade at El Playazo.
The Dynamic Tourist Zone, the area where the development will occur, is divided into two distinct parts on either side of the N-340 coast road. The Mayor envisages the N-340 becoming a grand boulevard connecting Nerja with the westernmost area of the town and the future marina.
South of the N-340 will be a large maritime sports area. In the first 100 metres will be the promenade of 30,000 square metres and 70,000 square metres of sandy beach area. The next 100 metres, with an area of 60,000 square metres, will be a maritime and sports sector for leisure, sports and recreational pursuits.
The final 200 metres to the N-340 will be for hotel use. The plan is for at least one hotel of 1,100 rooms.
The northern zone, between the N-340 and the Camino de Enmedio, will be a residential area and could see the construction of up to 2,200 homes. The development of this area, around 1,.116,000 square metres, will be the biggest housing project in Nerja’s history, seven times the size of the current SUP-4 project in Fuente del Baden.
The northern zone will also have a 55,000 square metre area for equipment.
The Mayor believes the project will turn Nerja into a major tourist resort. There is a long way to go, however, and no doubt countless administrative hurdles to be negotiated before, or if, it becomes a reality. Nerja still has no sewage plant after four decades of planning.