Marbella has had its fair share of scandals over the past couple of years. Couple this with the huge bursting property bubble within the Costa Del Sol and you have an extremely poor image portrayed by Spains jewel in the crown tourist destination.
Many foreign property purchasers found themselves owning real estate that was deemed illegal, through no fault of the own and Town Halls in several municipalities were subject to police raids, with high profile arrests.
Fast forward to the present day and we see things have moved forward, much of this due to the work of the Mayor Angeles Muñoz. The Junta de Andalucia has been at the centre of providing solutions for many issues, such as town planning and also allocation of government funding that will help the area and also assist in the international reputation of the Marbella area.
One of the big wins, if accepted, will be the granting of the first occupation license for those who have been unable to do so because of the legal issues concerning planning. This will be done irrespective of of future compensation claims and will assist in the ability to mortgage their Marbella luxury apartments . The second is to acquire land for services, as the Junta will help with several projects so the Mayor is trying to speed up the aquisition process.
Under the new plan issued there are three points that the Mayor has set out to achieve, firstly, to improve the economic situation, complete the General plan and then take care of the institutional plan. Without its implementation there will be little hope of a full recovery.
Private funding to assist the Marbella area is scarce and now Angeles has also started an global charm offensive, emphasized by her recent visit to New York and ringing the bell in the Stock Exchange.
The plan itself does cover all aspects of what is needed to lift the profile of Marbella in a positive fashion. The issue is, will the plan be accepted, as a whole by the Junta De Andalucia. They have the power to rubber stamp the plan, so things can move in a positive direction.
The worrying issue is the timescale it has taken to get this far. The Junta can spend €70 Million per year on getting the area back to the way it should be and Angeles Muñoz needs to make sure that enough tangible projects are ready to absorb and deliver what we all need.
