GREENPEACE has threatened to take legal action and stage major protests if the Spanish government pushes through plans to relax coastal planning regulations. The environmental group is angry following comments by Spain’s Environment Minister Miguel Arias Canete promising to make the Coastal Law ‘more compatible with economic growth’. The proposals would make it easier for [...]

THE Canadian multinational CNWL OIL is set to begin prospecting for oil and gas off the coast of Nerja and Torrox. The surveys, which will last for approximately one month, will cover a marine area of 150,000 hectares. It comes after the controversial project, which has been in the pipeline since 2006, was licensed by [...]

A FORMER Ronda mayor has pleaded for a rethink on a freight train plan that would ruin the town’s key tourist valley. Manuel Garcia Rubio insists the so-called Mediterranean Corridor should not be carved through the ‘magnificent’ Llano de la Cruz valley. The former socialist mayor insists the area – that has half a dozen [...]

THE mayors of Ronda and Arriate are supporting a plan to protect Ronda’s beautiful Llano de la Cruz valley against a damaging railway freight scheme. Both have also asked for a month’s extension to give residents and businesses time to formulate their allegations against the project, that is part of the so-called Mediterranean Corridor. Under [...]

UP to 200 homeowners and hoteliers have met to discuss ways to oppose a scheme that would ‘destroy’ tourism in Ronda’s popular Llano de la Cruz valley. The group – who are setting up a platform against the project – heard how a planned rail link would primarily be for freight trains, which ‘could run [...]

A PROPOSED route for a new AVE high speed rail line would cause ‘total destruction’ for one of Ronda’s key valleys. EXCLUSIVE By Paul Whitelock and Jon Clarke Hundreds of homeowners and hoteliers would be affected if a route published last week was to be built. Part of the so-called ‘Mediterranean Corridor’, the line – [...]

A MEETING this week has laid out destruction plans for the Algarrobico hotel. Environment minister Rosa Aguilar and Andalucia Junta president Jose Antonio Grinan agreed that central government will take charge of the demolition, while the Junta will organise the removal of the debris. The cost is estimated at 300 million euros. It is still [...]

By Eloise Horsfield DEMOLITION of the Algarrobico hotel has been put on hold until the courts are certain that the licence to build it was invalid. The 411-bedroom hotel was constructed illegally on the beach inside the Cabo de Gata Natural Park and campaigns – including a sit-in by Greenpeace – have fought hard against it. [...]

FOR the third year running Spain topped the list of days when the levels of the dangerous gas went above EU safety levels. A new report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) showed that the country exceeded the daily limit of 120 micrograms per cubic metre on a staggering 169 days last year. This is [...]

A DOZEN Greenpeace activists have started squatting in Spain’s most controversial illegal building. By Wendy Williams The group are refusing to move until their demands are met to knock down the El Algarrobico, which was built on a beach inside Almeria’s Cabo de Gata Natural Park. The move comes exactly three years after the license [...]

AN environmental lobby group in Gibraltar has condemned fire at the CEPSA oil refinery in San Roque as ‘disturbing.’ In particular the Environmental Safety Group voiced their concerns over a lack of official protocol for sharing information between the two border nations. In a strongly worded statement the group revealed they were alerted after the [...]

GREENPEACE has slammed a proposal to prospect for gas on the Costa del Sol. The global pressure group has called for an immediate halt to the exploration project, which could cause ‘chronic contamination’ and a lasting impact on marine life. Spanish boss Sara Pizzinato insists that the scheme proposed off Mijas ‘poses a huge risk [...]