MALAGA – The future of Malaga is green. The southern Spanish city awaits approval from the Spanish coastal authority ‘Costas’ to create a large urban forest by the sea.
Previously, the municipality announced its intention to plant 3 million trees on an area of 2,000 hectares northeast of the city as part of a comprehensive reforestation plan. This came with the initiative of the Malaga Urban Forest citizen platform that aims to transform the old factory sites of Repsol into a large urban park.
In the short term, a ‘big forest by the sea’ will take shape, as mayor de la Torre put it. This is expected to be completed in 2022.
It concerns an area of 33,485 square meters, located between the boulevards Pablo Ruiz Picasso and Pedregalejo. The plan is to plant 210 new trees, including Eucalyptus, palms, pines and cypresses. They may also plant the endemic plant Limonium malacitanum there. The rocky area that transitions between land and sea there will form part of the plan.
In addition to plenty of space for new planting, the municipality also wants to extend the boulevard. This will allow people from the city side of the famous bathhouse Baños del Carmen to continue their way along the sea to the bustling fishing district of Pedregalejo. In addition to widening the pavement for pedestrians, the plan is also to build 700 metres of cycle paths.
The plan involves an investment of €5million. The municipality wants to pay half of this. The remaining half coming from the national government, La Opinion de Malaga reports. Now only the Coastal Authority has to approve the project. Mayor De la Torre expects this to happen before the second half of this year starts.
