The transformation of the former holiday residence in Marbella (Málaga) into a hotel complex will generate annual revenues of at least four million euros for the Junta de Andalucía through the exploitation fee. As part of the strategy developed by the General Directorate of Heritage to promote the enhancement of unused or underutilized public heritage, the Minister of Economy, Finance, and European Funds, Carolina España, and the Mayor of Marbella, María Ángeles Muñoz, signed a heritage and urban collaboration agreement in February to promote the urban change that will revitalize and utilize the former holiday residence as a hotel complex.
The territorial delegate of the Council, Antonio García Acedo, emphasized that this operation will allocate more than four million euros «to finance essential public services for the Andalusian citizens. For healthcare, education, dependency care, roads…»
«It makes no sense to keep the plot and building of the former holiday residence unused, paying for its maintenance costs,» said the territorial delegate. «However, this agreement with the Marbella City Council will allow a new use that will create jobs for the area, bring new wealth to Marbella, Málaga, and Andalucía and increase the budget allocated to public services by at least four million euros.»
In fact, García Acedo also recalled that «there is a precedent for the transformation of a former holiday residence into a hotel, such as the successful conversion of one in Cádiz into a 4-star commercial and hotel complex by Q-Hotels, employing around five hundred people.»
The agreement between the Ministry of Economy, Finance, and European Funds and the Marbella City Council allows the Junta to retain ownership of the property, which will be awarded through the General Directorate of Heritage via a competitive and publicized procedure, for the surface rights exploitation over a period of 75 years.
Through this formula, the regional administration retains ownership of the property, establishing a set of obligations for the awardee, who will be required to make a series of investments in the early years after the award to ensure the successful operation and protection of Andalusian historical heritage.
Ongoing Planning Study
The Marbella Holiday Residence, located on the Mediterranean Highway in Marbella, covers an area of nearly 197,502 square meters of land, with a current built area of 23,395 square meters. The complex is listed in the General Catalog of Andalusian Heritage, and the agreement stipulates that any urban development carried out will fully respect this listing.
The terms include the requirement for the awardee to comply with regulations regarding the protection of Andalusian Heritage, with non-compliance expressly stated as a cause for termination. Additionally, it includes a research study conducted by the Department of History, Theory, and Architectural Composition, as well as the favorable report from the Territorial Delegation of Culture in Málaga.
The Planning Study promoted by the Junta de Andalucía, which proposes changing the current urban qualification of the plot from a general equipment system to a hotel facility, is currently underway by the Marbella City Council.
Holiday Residences
The Andalusian Government Council decided in November 2023 to eliminate the service of holiday residences, due to being highly deficitary (since 2015, they cost the Andalusian treasury 140 million euros and only generated revenues of 16 million euros), as it does not constitute an essential public service and its original social purpose (offering affordable vacation stays to workers and their families) had disappeared, due to the improved economic and social situation experienced by Andalusian society.
In fact, in 2022, the 85,575 stays recorded in the Andalusian holiday residences represented 0.07% of the total overnight stays made in Andalusia by Andalusian citizens, which, according to the INE’s National Survey of Resident Tourism, reached 117.8 million.
The change in urban qualification of the former Marbella holiday residence plot is not the only one being promoted by the Junta de Andalucía to reutilize plots that, with their current urban classification, mostly dedicated to public uses, are useless in meeting current needs.
These actions are part of the strategy developed by the General Directorate of Heritage of the Junta de Andalucía since 2019 to utilize unused or underutilized heritage and thus generate savings and revenues.