Controversial Las Dunas Club Gets Approval

Marbella’s local government approved the urbanisation licence for Las Dunas Club on May 12, clearing the next procedural step for a long-delayed luxury resort and residential scheme on Real de Zaragoza beach in Las Chapas. The licence covers infrastructure works on a site of more than 160,000 square metres, according to Marbella city hall. Mayor Ángeles Muñoz said the project includes roads, drainage, utility networks and environmental measures on the beachfront parcel. (marbella.es) The approval follows a November 2024 decision by the Andalusian regional government to definitively approve the planning modification needed to unlock the scheme. The project has been in the works since 2016, when developers presented plans for a luxury hotel on the site, originally tied to Marriott’s W brand and later described by local business media as subject to a possible brand change. Over that period, the file became entangled in revisions to Marbella’s 1986 planning framework, regional reviews and objections from environmental groups. (marbella.es) ### What exactly did Marbella approve this week? The Marbella Junta de Gobierno Local approved the licence for the urbanisation project, not the opening of a hotel or the completion of the full development. City hall said the licence authorises works tied to the preparation of the sector, including public services, roads, drainage, public-space works and environmental actions. (marbella.es) Ángeles Muñoz said the intervention includes dune regeneration, protection of the coastal frontage, conservation of existing trees and measures aimed at fauna and biodiversity. The same municipal statement said the hydraulic works include a new stormwater drainage network and sustainable channeling of the Arroyo Real de Zaragoza. (thespanisheye.com) ### How much money is attached to this phase? The urbanisation phase carries an investment of 23.5 million euros, funded by the developers, Muñoz said. Marbella city hall said the works include more than one kilometre of stormwater collectors, a new bridge linking to the Golden Beach urbanisation, a bike lane, pedestrian spaces and new electricity, sanitation and telecommunications networks. (marbella.es) The broader scheme was described in November 2024 as a 350 million euro project by Platinum Estates, the Hong Kong investment group behind the development. Cinco Días reported at the time that the approved planning framework would allow a five-star hotel with 186 rooms and 170 branded residences on the Real de Zaragoza seafront. (marbella.es) ### Why has Las Dunas been stuck for so long? The project dates to 2016 and has passed through several rounds of planning review. Málaga Hoy reported that the Andalusian government approved the definitive modification of Marbella’s planning rules for the URP-AL-6 Las Dunas Club sector in November 2024, after more than eight years of processing. In October 2023, Andalusia’s Consultative Council issued an unfavourable report on the planning change, and the regional government suspended definitive approval while corrections were made, according to regional and local reports. (marbella.es) Málaga Hoy said one of the issues involved how the file justified an exemption from the rule reserving 30% of residential buildability for protected housing. ### Who has opposed the project, and on what grounds? Ecologistas Malaka said in 2021 that it wanted the planning modification annulled because it believed the project would cause “fragmentation and destruction” of the dune ecosystem where the hotel was planned. (cincodias.elpais.com) More recent local and English-language reports say opponents have continued to raise concerns about damage to the coastal environment and public access around the dunes. Marbella city hall and the developers have answered those concerns by pointing to dune regeneration, permeable surfaces, tree conservation, biodiversity protections and drainage works included in the urbanisation project. (malagahoy.es) Muñoz said the coastal-front measures are intended to help integrate the area with the seafront promenade. ### What still has to happen before a resort opens there? (malagahoy.es) The November 2024 planning approval did not eliminate the need for urbanisation and building steps. Juan Luis Segalerva, Platinum Estates’ partner in Spain, told Málaga Hoy in November that after the planning approval, “now it remains to urbanise and build,” and said the next filings included urbanisation, reparcelling and a basic construction project. The immediate next milestone is the execution of the newly approved urbanisation works at Real de Zaragoza. (malagahoy.es) Marbella city hall said that phase will deliver the roads, drainage, bridge connection, utility networks and dune-related measures that must be in place on the Las Dunas sector before later construction stages proceed. (malagahoy.es) (marbella.es)