Joint Press Release: CLARO & Cambiemos
A new hope to save Cala Mosca from the construction of 1,500 new houses on Orihuela Costa’s last green area by the sea has been provided by a recent opinion of the Ministry of Transport, Directorate General for Traffic, sent to the municipal government of Orihuela.
The national Ministry of Transport is opposed to the planned urbanisation of Cala Mosca, in clear and certain terms.
Orihuela Town Hall approved the plan to build 1,500 new houses on this land, which is not only cement free but also home to two protected species of flora and fauna, as long ago as 2007 but was opposed by C.L.A.R.O., the party for the coast, which presented a petition to save Cala Mosca, with over 7,000 signatures, to the European parliament in 2010.
The European Parliament blocked building work until the necessary environmental impact studies were carried out. The Ministry of Transport opinion was presented in this context.
The Ministry of Transport opposition is based on several considerations. A main argument is the impact of additional traffic on the national road, the N332, which, on the coast, we all know, is heavily congested especially in normal summer months when the population of Orihuela Costa multiplies perhaps tenfold.
Roads use by private cars and commercial vehicle would increase enormously with 1,500 new homes and the main entry and exit from the development is directly on to the N332. The other, at the Punta Prime end of Cala Mosca, gives indirectly on to the N332. The developer’s plans seriously underestimate the effects of this increase in traffic.
The Cambiemos Councillor, Javier Gracia, pointed out over a year ago that this increase of traffic would be disastrous, creating congestion, noise and insecurity and would have such a negative impact on the environment of Orihuela Costa, already densely built and with inadequate services, that it would put in peril the value of properties and future development.
The law requires that a project which impacts the national road system requires adjustments to maintain the same levels of use and safety and that these adjustments would be at the cost of the developer.
In the case of Cala Mosca it is difficult to conceive of any such adjustments being physically possible and if they were they would probably be prohibitively expensive. They would also involve a major redesign of the project.
The implication of this negative opinion of the Ministry of Transport on the plan to build 1,500 new houses on Cala Mosca is potentially huge. The opinion explicitly states that the original approval of the project in 2007 is no longer valid and the project would not only require major redesign but would have to go through all the administrative procedures at local and regional level before obtaining a new approval. The political and legal context, not to mention the economic context of the Covid pandemic, has changed radically since 2007.
It would be a brave developer who would think it worth it and for this reason we have a new hope that we can Save Cala Mosca and keep this last piece of green land by the sea for a highly desirable and necessary natural park for Orihuela Costa.
