Calvia Council rethinking hotel redevelopment projects

The town hall is saying that at present, in compliance with this law, licences are being given for both redevelopment and new build that exceed limits under the municipality’s general urban plan (PGOU). Sources from the administration of PSOE and Sí Se Puede Calvia (a Podemos affiliate) say that it is attempting to arrive at agreements with developers so as to defend the “general interest” and avoid “aggressive impact on the environment”.

“The town hall is acting in line with the regulations and the general interest and, in the event that specific licences are not given, this is because they do meet aspects of the PGOU unaffected by the tourism law.”

The fact that the town hall has “invited” hoteliers to resize planned projects has, according to the Majorca Hoteliers Federation, spread “concern and anxiety” in the tourism sector. Its president, Inmaculada Benito, suggests that project redefinition “will put the brakes on the level of investment”.  With regard to criticisms of the slowness of and delays to the processing of hotel projects, the town hall blames these on the fact that, while some projects fall under terms of being “prescribed and binding” by the tourism ministry, others do not; hence, the wait to obtain the report making them so on account of the large number of projects that the ministry is considering.

Another issue, says the town hall, is that processing of projects can be affected by a need for a favourable assessment from the national aviation safety agency (AESA). “All projects that entail an increase in height must submit a mandatory report to the agency.” In fact, with the exception of Paguera, the whole of the municipality is subject to this type of assessment. So, as the great majority of projects covered by the tourism law envisage an increase in height, they all require a report being sent to AESA. Until this is forthcoming, says the town hall, “the relevant licences cannot be given”.