News
The people’s paper ISSUE NO. 1860
25 Feb - 3 March 2021
COSTA DE ALMERIA • WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM
FREE • GRATIS
€70 MILLION SAVED
NEITHER the State, the Junta de Andalucia nor Carboneras Town Hall need to compensate El Algarrobico promoters Azata del Sol. The National High Court in Madrid ruled that the economic losses suffered by Azata del Sol, who wanted €70 million damages, could not be attributed to the Administration. The illegally-built hotel in the Cabo de Gata-Nijar national park with its 20 storeys and 411 rooms was constructed on the seafront, infringing Spain’s coastal laws by invading the State-owned maritime strip. The promoters maintained that the State moved the goal-
EL ALGARROBICO: Greenpeace has constantly campaigned for the illegal hotel’s demolition.
Diputacion windfall ALMERIA’S bars and restaurants are in line for windfalls of up to €5,000. Javier A Garcia, president of Almeria’s provincial council, the Diputacion, recently unveiled Plan Diego Garcia, directed at helping every cafe, bar and restaurant in the province. Details of the €1 million plan, financed entirely by the Diputacion, will be published today, Thursday February 26, in the Offi-
cial Bulletin of the Province. Applications may be made on Friday February 27 via the www.di palme.org website. The scheme will support one of the sectors hardest-hit by the pandemic by enabling owners to purchase local fruit, vegetables and meat as well as Sabores Almeria products. “We want Almeria residents to eat Almeria products in Almeria bars,” Garcia said.
“The hospitality sector is more than a pillar of the economy, it is part of Almeria’s way of life.” Grants are based on the number of employees, from €2,000 from bars and restaurants with up to three workers, rising to €5,000 for those with 11 or more. Plan Diego Garcia is named after the late president of Almeria’s hotel and catering association, ASHAL. “Diego was tireless, goahead, a resolute defender of the
sector who possessed Almeria’s characteristics of effort, hospitality, congeniality and excellence,” the Diputacion president said.
posts by establishing the maritime strip 100 metres from the high tide mark after Azata del Sol obtained the necessary permits in the 1980s. At that time, the maritime strip was set at 50 metres from the shore and the Cabo de Gata-Nijar had not yet been created, they argued. Construction began in 2003 but was halted in 2005 when El Algarrobico was 94 per cent built, heralding more than 20 lawsuits that have included appeals and counter-appeals. Meanwhile, Andalucia’s 2021 Budget included an allocation to finance the first stages of demolition, which the regional president Juanma
Moreno described as another measure in the Junta’s Revolucion Verde (Green Revolution). “This is a political and moral commitment to future generations and a tangible example of real change in environmental policies,” Moreno said. Greenpeace is currently reserving its judgement, the environmentalist organisation said, and is waiting to see if this is ‘greenwashing’ on the Junta’s part. But not only the environment will benefit from El Algarrobico’s demolition, as this will create around 400 new jobs, a Greenpeace study predicted in 2012.