A Malaga court (Sala de lo Contencioso-Administrativo de Málaga del Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Andalucía) has found in favour of Nerja Council in its ongoing dispute over the land earmarked by the council for a golf course. The court has agreed with the council that the land is “urbanisable” rather than “rustic” and as such can be developed, despite the regional government giving the land the protected designation.

The golf course was planned to be built in an area close to the Nerja Caves, called el Barranco de la Coladilla which borders the Sierras Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama Natural Parks. The land was designated for development by the town council in the local area plan (the PGOU) back in 2000. However the Andalucian government had different ideas and gave the area a protected designation in their regional plan (POTAX) in 2006.

The property company Medgroup paid €11 million for the rights to develop the golf course in 2004. The original plan envisaged an 18 hole golf course, luxury hotel and 1,000 homes to be built in an area which is currently a wilderness – at the height of the property boom the development would have been worth hundreds of millions of euros. At the time Medgroup was majority owned by billionaire financier George Soros, best known for making $1bn out of the collapse of the pound in 1992, following Britain’s ill-fated entry to the European exchange rate mechanism. In 2010 Soros sold his stake in Medgroup for a nominal amount, stating that he was “tired of the Spanish real estate sector”.

In the meantime golf enthusiasts can play at Baviera Golf, (pictured above) a short distance down the motorway from Nerja.

Bookmark Or Email This Page