The Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community (TSJCV) does not find any obstacle that prevents the construction of 2,200 homes in Cala Mosca, the last virgin kilometer of the Orihuela coast (Alicante, 80,784 inhabitants). The last appeal against the Alameda del Mar urbanization, which would be located on the beachfront, clung to the unfavorable reports issued by the State Highway Demarcation against the possible obstruction of traffic that the project would entail, an argument supported by the municipal group of Cambiemos, the Podemos brand in the Alicante municipality. However, for the TSJ magistrates, the latest modification of the Cala Mosca plan, approved by the plenary session of the City Council, “does not affect the sectoral powers of the State Administration bodies in matters of roads, nor is it therefore mandatory. his report.” The ruling can be appealed to the Supreme Court.
For now, the ruling signed on November 14 is the last pillar of a judicial process that began 30 years ago. The then mayor of Orihuela, Luis Fernando Cartagena (PP), modified the classification of the land between Punta Peñas and Playa Flamenca, on the Oriola coast, to build 2,200 homes on the seafront. The construction company Gomendio has 240,000 square meters in the heart of a natural area, the last unbuilt corner of the area, but it is faced with social and administrative rejection of the project. After successive modifications, a party formed by residents of Orihuela Costa, as the coastal stretch of the municipality is known, located 30 kilometers from the urban center, takes its opposition to the urban plan to Brussels. The key to its defense in court is the safeguarding of two threatened species, the snail Tudorella mauretanica, a mollusk, and the cat’s head jarilla (Helianthemum caput-felis), a plant with yellow flowers.
The construction company is not backing down and is progressively reaching agreements that facilitate the development of Alameda del Mar. An agreement from the plenary session of Orihuela, in September 2021, with Emilio Bascuñana (PP) at the helm in coalition with Ciudadanos, approves the modification definitive of the Alameda del Mar Improvement Plan that seems to support the construction of the 2,200 homes and allows excavators to enter the land. Furthermore, on July 19, 2022, it obtained the endorsement of the Generalitat, specifically the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, Climate Emergency and Ecological Transition, which at that time was led by Mireia Mollà (Compromís), through the transfer of a plot of 60,000 square meters to protect the cat’s head jarilla. Gomendio also undertakes to remodel and design access, to erect a perimeter fence that will prevent the access of vehicles, people or animals, and to include a fauna reserve to guarantee the conservation of the snail population. The ecological route used by the entities opposed to the project is thus definitively cornered.
In September of last year, the Oriolana mayor, Carolina Gracia (PSOE), who ousted Bascuñana from the Mayor’s Office thanks to an agreement with Ciudadanos and Cambiemos, the latter with the protection of Cala Mosca as an indisputable red line, proposed a negotiation table between the parties with municipal representation, the Generalitat and the construction company, in order to explore possible alternatives through political means so as not to lose the last virgin beach. Gracia offers land swaps and financial compensation for Gomendio, but everything remains empty. Among other things because one of its partners, Ciudadanos, is one of the main defenders of the project. In the last municipal elections, José Vegara (PP) obtained the leadership with Vox as partners. And the Cala Mosca matter has since disappeared from the municipal records.
The appeal filed by the State Highway Demarcation and Cambiemos leaves aside the protected species to focus on the negative report written by the entity dependent on the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda. In a residential area with a lot of vehicle traffic, focused on the N-332 that comes from the also crowded Torrevieja, the arrival of 2,200 homes would accentuate the problems of traffic jams that occur, mainly, in summer. However, the TSJ does not appreciate that the plenary agreement affects in any way the situation of the current roads, and therefore rejects the appeal, which can be raised to the Supreme Court, and imposes costs on the two plaintiffs.
For Cambiemos, this ruling is “sad news because it ends one of the open channels that could paralyze construction,” declares Enrique Montero, councilor of the party. Now, they will analyze the sentence and wait “for the ministry’s criteria to see if we make the decision to appeal.” “We are very concerned about the lack of services in Orihuela Costa,” continues Montero, which may worsen with the urbanization of Cala Mosca. The judicial decision has also meant “a setback” for the Save Cala Mosca neighborhood association, since they had placed their “last hope on the judicial side” in this appeal, says the secretary of the association, Ángel Barceló. “The construction of a second road is essential to adapt the road to the traffic that is going to come,” he considers. In his opinion, the Alameda del Mar will further accentuate the precarious situation of Orihuela services.
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