Re-start of major home building in Spain threatens picture-postcard coastline villages and coves
From Catalonia to the Balearics numerous building projects which came to a halt during the country’s 2008 economic crisis have resumed as growth returns
Sandwiched between a crystalline blue sea and green pine trees lies Aiguafreda, one of Spain’s last largely unspoilt Mediterranean coves which is now being threatened by a new building frenzy.
From Catalonia to the Balearic Islands numerous building projects which came to a halt during the country’s 2008 economic crisis have been restarted as growth returns, raising fears among green groups of a new “construction fever” along the country’s already heavily built-up coastline.
On the Costa Brava, a nearly 100-mile (160-kilometre) stretch of rugged coastline in northeastern Catalonia, 20 projects are in the works, according to environmental group SOS Costa Brava.
Among them is a 260-home residential development at Aiguafreda which had been stalled for 15 years due to bureaucratic hold-ups, divisions among investors and then the economic crisis, which was sparked by the collapse of a decade-long property bubble. The project was relaunched by new owners recently.
There are very few places left like this, that are so green and with so few houses. The idea of losing it terrifies us
Only a few houses nestled among pine trees currently surround the tiny cove of crystal clear waters, in the municipality of Begur.
