A landscape like no other
"Here, in Malaga, one longs for the shores of this very small town, which in the imagination of the province is the closest thing to the promised land . An environment surrounded by protected natural spaces, the charm of the town, which remains discreet and white, and the feeling of carefree summer that is breathed on its beaches justify falling in love".
This is how we talked a few years ago about Maro, a municipality with less than 750 inhabitants that we baptized as ' Andalusian Hawaii '. In that article we observed the beauty of the environment, but also the weight of agriculture in its landscape, and even of its pre-industrial past, reflected in the imposing ruins of the Maro sugar mill. "No megalithic constructions or strange buildings consecrated to the outside: the same openwork houses that house the neighbors serve as a refuge for foreigners, which is a visual relief", we pointed out that summer.
That urban landscape as simple as it is beautiful, however, is now in danger . And it will be precisely those ruins that we mentioned then that will lead the change, becoming a luxury hotel, which will be accompanied by the construction of an 18-hole signature golf course and an urbanization with 680 high-level homes. The project, called Maro Golf , aims to reclassify 1.5 million square meters of undeveloped land in the surroundings of the beautiful cliffs of Maro, partially protected.
"Currently, we are in the initial phase of a process that began in 2017, with the creation of the platform ' Another Maro, another Nerja is possible ' as a reaction to the announcement of an agreement between Sociedad Azucarera Larios S.A. (then) and the Nerja City Council, governed by the PP", explains Rafael Yus to Traveler.es. He is a spokesperson for GENA-Ecologistas en Acción, a group that is part of the platform.
This agreement aims to regulate the transfer of land made to the City Council by Larios, owner of much of the land in the area since the 1930s in its efforts to gain control of cane production and manufacturing of sugar. "In the years 2004 and especially 2008 and 2009, Larios gave the city council 71,628 square meters for public facilities (Fire Station, Health Center, Civil Guard barracks), some of which have not yet been executed," they point out from eldiario.es.
In other words, according to 'Otro Maro...', what is really being pursued with this agreement is " change debts contracted with the company for the reclassification of the area ", a point to which they oppose in their decalogue: "An indebted City Council cannot exchange debts for urban favors and land reclassification", they point out. What they propose is to audit the debt by the Citizen Debt Audit Platform (PACD ) and develop a payment plan that does not harm public interests or cause social cuts.
The agreement was not published in that legislature, it seems that due to lack of time; the PP lost the following elections, but won the mayoralty again in 2019. Now, "in full state of alarm for Coronavirus" , as Yus points out, the document has been published, which, once this exceptional period ends, will be taken to the municipal plenary session for approval.
During all this time, according to the spokesman, the platform has been spreading what it considers "a serious environmental and social attack on the territory of Maro" . Thus, for example, an artificial barrier will be created that will prevent the free transit of species (among them, the mountain goat), which will add to a strong loss of identity with a new "clone project" of which, in his opinion, , there are so many on the Costa del Sol, that "it threatens to reproduce another real estate and tourist bubble in the medium term".
The group has also carried out a collection of adhesions, still underway, which, according to Yus, has already reached 16,000 signatures. Likewise, they will also present writings in the period stipulated for it. "If it is finally approved in plenary session, there is still a long way to go in urban planning in which we will have the opportunity to present legally substantiated allegations," says Yus.
"Larios refers to the end of the state of alarm to comment on this matter. For its part, the city council issued a press release to replicate the alleged 'lies'. According to the consistory, the definitive impulse of the agreement has coincided with the state of alarm because now they have been issued 'favorable legal reports' , although it does not clarify what they are", can also be read in the article in eldiario.es.
AND WHY NOT A HOTEL?
Many believe that an urban development of the characteristics projected by the Larios Plan can be the 'salvation' of a locality. However, for Yus, this is not the case in Nerja. " This municipality is not exactly in a state in need of 'salvation', since it is one of the most important tourist destinations in the entire Andalusian Mediterranean , the most important in terms of hotel beds on the entire eastern Costa del Sol in Malaga".
"Only the tourism sector generates enough wealth for the population, since it not only has seasonal income, but also has an important foreign residential population that mobilizes the service sector and contributes substantial income to the municipal coffers. All of this must be add the thriving agricultural sector , especially the subtropical type (avocado, mango) and also the extra-early horticultural, precisely, in Maro, a sector that would disappear if this agreement is approved", explains the spokesman.
The seabed of Maro is protected
Thus, according to their data, the agricultural sector provides support to at least 500 families. "In this way, to satisfy the business desires of this company, with products that Nerja does not need in any way, because Models of there are many residences with golf on the Costa del Sol , an important socio-economic fabric must be sacrificed; an unparalleled landscape that everyone admires when they look out over the Balcón de Europa; the possibility of valuing the existing historical and archaeological resources in the area and one of the highest biodiversity in Andalusia, as well as an unparalleled concentration in geodiversity, both resources that are still to be exploited for the tourism and educational sector. It is a lot of sacrifice for something as banal as a simple golf course that, at most, will reach an elite of irregular stay".
"We are convinced that Nerja cannot live exclusively from tourism", adds Yus. "Now we have seen it clearly: while the tourism sector was always the one that saved the economy and employment in Nerja, now that it has fallen due to Covid-19, agriculture is the only segment that remains afloat . Nerja needs to maintain this agricultural sector, and for this reason and also for social reasons, it must be maintained on the lands of Maro", he explains.
However, this does not mean that the platform does not bet on tourism for the future of the area, but rather that it prefers a more sustainable and balanced model : "Except for the Cueva de Nerja and the beaches, the town is not exploiting its resources to reach broader tourism, such as nature tourism."
"The flora and fauna of the two protected natural spaces that the municipality has (the Tejeda and Almijara Natural Park and the Maro-Cerro Gordo Natural Park) are key to this nature tourism , which can also be offered about a dozen Places of Geological Interest, in addition to the well-known Cueva de Nerja, and let's not forget the very important historical and archaeological-industrial legacy that Nerja has, and Maro in particular, enough to create new tourism products that give stable jobs to entrepreneurs who want to make a living from it", Yus considers.
More than 16,000 people bet not to touch Maro
**AND WHAT ABOUT THE LANDSCAPE? **
According to the platform 'Otro maro...', the area in which the complex is planned has been declared Well of Cultural Interest (BIC) and protected by the PGOU. "Other protections, such as the Special Plan for the Protection of the Historic Site Paraje Picturesque de Maro, the Axarquia Territorial Planning Plan (POTAX) and the Andalusian Coastal Corridor Protection Plan (PPCLA), they have disappeared victims of separate annulments in courts at the request of Larios, always for exclusively formal reasons". The nearby Maro-Cerro Gordo Natural Park, yes, will not be affected.
In this way, the environment is now more unprotected than ever by the laws; however, the enemy of the landscape for the promoters of Larios is another, as defended in the video that presents the Maro Golf campaign: intensive farming , which, according to him, "significantly deteriorates the landscape and its environmental values". They refer, especially, to the area covered by greenhouses, but also to non-regulated installations. In addition, the campaign underlines soil degradation and excessive use of water due to agricultural practice.
"This is true, landscaping has been deteriorating and it is a pending issue that the city council of Nerja has never wanted to stop knowing its consequences. Neither has Larios, the owner of these lands, done anything," argues Yus. "What's more, with the Special Plan for the Protection of the Maro Site, drawn up previously, the intention was to carry out improvement actions, which they were never carried out because Larios resorted to this plan and he won it due to procedural errors. We are in favor of fixing these things, but it needs to be done with the participation of the affected sector, not from an office".
In fact, improving the landscape of the area is one of the measures they propose, forcing Larios to " clean, preserve sanitary conditions and avoid shantytowns throughout the area, whose deterioration it encourages". Information and Help Office for farmers on new crops , cooperatives and supply of peri-urban orchards of social economy. "And create a network of producers and consumers of organic products."