New project proposed for the Port of Soller

SOLLER
THE proposed new building project for the Muelle de Marineria, an alternative to the one approved by the previous Balearic government, is very avant garde and includes rooftop terraces for visitors to enjoy, as well as other facilities and services such as an indoor swimming pool.

The project was unveiled to the public, and the sectors which will be most affected, as the council wants the public to have the final say on which of the two alternatives should be carried out.

The new structures which the Muelle's concessionary company, Nuevos Puertos Deportivos SL want to build will mean a great change for one of the nerve centres of the port, and it is still not clear where areas for traditional activities, such as professional fishing, will be located.

It must be remembered that the original project started a furious debate and caused protests from different sectors as they considered it too big and overwhelming.

But, after a modification and a commitment by the Balearic Government that a large shopping centre would be eliminated from the project, the work still did not start on time because the concessionary company asked the Government for a modification of the project.

Both the council and the Government then asked the company to delay the work until after the municipal elections.
The work should have started a year ago. Although the council has avoided saying which of the projects it favours, sources close to the governing party revealed that they could ask for the concession, which the Government granted to the current holder for 28 years, to be terminated.

When the company decided to defer the building work, rumours went through the port that the buildings would not be constructed because it would not be in the interests of the Partido Popular (PP) because it would reveal their commercial intentions.

The ex Mayor, Carles Simarro, said that this double intention did not exist and that “the company got the concession with a basic project and when the definitive project was drawn up they decided it was more innovative”.