Environmental green light for Costa's development plan advocates coastal train line improvements and lifting of tolls on AP-7 motorway

Big plans were heavily promoted for Malaga during the first decade of this century, which is when councillor Concepción Gutiérrez was in charge of city council's department for public works and transport. These schemes sought to set aside spaces for business opportunities, the environment and infrastructure so as to better align the different municipal plans across the wider city, thereby providing a more coherent plan for what was fast becoming a sprawling metropolis. One such plan is Malaga's urban land regulation and urban development plan (known as POTAUM) that, for example, included the much-discussed northern wastewater treatment plant, dating from 2009. The Axarquia's POTA plan also dates back to 2006. The same applies to the developments for the western side of the Costa del Sol, a plan overturned by the courts in 2015. Now, two decades after these initial steps, it has received environmental approval, according to a resolution from the general secretariat for the environment that has been published in the official gazette of the Junta de Andalucía's regional government (BOJA).

The plan for the western Costa del Sol includes key aspects such as reserving space for the coastal train to extend, a commitment to freeing up tolls on the AP-7 motorway and improved water infrastructure. "Taking into account the results of the consultations carried out and in accordance with the provisions of Law 7/2007, of 9 July, on the 'integrated management of environmental quality' and to ensure a high level of environmental protection and proper integration of environmental aspects, this ordinary strategic environmental assessment procedure is resolved with a favourable environmental declaration [...]," concluded the resolution as published in the BOJA on Monday.

This plan for urban land use and development, known as a POT, considers the need for this extensive and well-populated conurbation, this metropolitan continuum that fills the coastline between Manilva and Torremolinos, to be connected by a coastal railway. This is one of the main conclusions of the document, something that was originally planned by the team of Jerez-based architect Manuel González Fustegueras. Furthermore, the planning experts see the opportunity to transform the A-7 into a large metropolitan boulevard with priority for public transport, the need for a second seawater desalination plant on this coastline and the improvement of water connections with the Campo de Gibraltar.

In the case of water connections, they are included in the Gibralmedina dam project, a project already drafted by the Junta. The desalination plant will be the subject of a preliminary assessment project by Acosol as part of its own investment plan as the public water company for this stretch of the Costa del Sol.

As for the AP-7 toll motorway, its road permeability and the improvement of traffic from Torremolinos are currently being studied by the Ministry of Transport in Madrid, which has also launched a feasibility study for the coastal train. It is worth remembering that, at the time of that first POT for urban development, a double tunnel in Cala de Mijas was approved for the aforementioned railway corridor, which had a metro-like format. The economic crisis of 2008 and the fallout from that effectively thwarted the project.

The POT, therefore, does not define in-depth models, but rather only strategic needs, just looking at the big picture and taking into account issues such as demographic projections and demand scenarios.

The POT has once again been subjected to a complex process of objections and the views of affected town councils have been heard. The document covers the future needs of nine municipalities in the province: Marbella, Estepona, Fuengirola, Mijas, Benahavís, Manilva, Ojén, Istán and Casares, all of which participated in its development.

The previous POT was declared null and void by Spain's Supreme Court in 2015. In the last legislature at Malaga city hall, the department for public works resumed the drafting of this plan.

The new POT also highlights the vital importance of improving the Cercanías network for commuters and other local rail users, which currently links Malaga and Fuengirola, as well as extending it to the other municipalities mentioned above. This, in conjunction with a more high-speed model, such as the one now appearing to gain traction for the coastal train.

The document has planned up to seven new toll motorway links: Casares, Benahavís, Istán, Elviria, Hospital de la Costa del Sol, La Cala de Mijas and Las Lagunas. It also supports upgrading the Ronda-San Pedro road, which is in the process of being repaired following the closure caused by the landslide during Storm Jana that affected the viaduct in Benahavís. It also advocates doing the same for the western section of the Carretera de Arco, between Cártama, Coín, Monda, Ojén and the coast.

The road network also addresses improvements to the A-387, between Alhaurín El Grande and Fuengirola via the mountain pass of Puerto de los Pescadores, and the A-368 that links Torremolinos and Mijas. The Manilva-Gaucín road, which soon became an alternative route to the Costa del Sol during the aforementioned closure of the Ronda-San Pedro road, is also incorporated into the text.

The document makes significant room for transport interchanges to promote intermodality, as well as BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) systems. The Cercanías rail network's vicinity is crucial for all this other infrastructure, as is the aforementioned metropolitan boulevard on the A-7.

As for water resources, the failed Mijas-Fuengirola desalination plant is discussed, as is the need to work on both the eastern and western branches of the 'water highway'. The need for a reversible connection with Malaga city is also highlighted, as already evident with the inauguration of the Rojas pumping station at Churriana, with a capacity to transfer 500 litres per second in both directions, although these pumping stations are hampered by the poor state of the upstream network.

Without actually being considered, other ideas were put forward such as connecting the Genal river system with that of the Río Verde, a proposal that was discarded when the project to re-build La Concepción reservoir was not pursued and the Gibralmedina dam on the Guadiaro was chosen instead.

The technical document also deals with issues such as water purification, wastewater treatment and sanitation and recalls some unfinished projects from the past, such as the Ojén and Alaminos dams. Likewise, express mention is made of the need to preserve and protect groundwater, with special emphasis on the Sierra de Mijas.