The Local Government Board has initially approved the project to obtain 32,597.84 square meters north of the A-7 and make them available to the State. The mayor, Jesús Lupiáñez, is calling on the Government to tender and execute the infrastructure.
The City Council of Vélez-Málaga has taken a new administrative step to unblock the future desalination plant in Axarquía. The Local Government Board held last Monday initially approved the project for obtaining the necessary land for this infrastructure, with the aim of making it available to the Government of Spain, the competent authority to execute it.
The total area is 32,597.84 square meters, located north of the A-7, in the area between Camino del Higueral and Camino de Torrox. This location has been defined as the most suitable for housing the infrastructure.
The file includes a total valuation of 3,160,429.80 euros. Part of the compensation is structured through municipal land and a credit of 451,836.66 euros has been reserved to cover the expected economic difference.
The mayor, Jesús Lupiáñez, has highlighted the work of the Urban Planning Delegation in recent months to advance the processing.
“From the City Council, we are doing our job and we are doing it rigorously. The desalination plant is too important an infrastructure for our region to remain just an announcement. We have made progress in planning, we have worked on the land, and we have taken another fundamental administrative step to put it on the path to execution.”
Lupiáñez has expressly acknowledged the work of the councillor Celestino Rivas in charge of Urban Planning and that of the municipal technicians.
“Behind this agreement, there is a lot of technical, legal, and administrative work. We are not talking about a simple signature: we are talking about ordering, valuing, processing, and finding the formula that allows us to obtain strategic land for an infrastructure that Axarquía needs.”
The mayor insisted that the City Council is fulfilling the actions within its competencies and has called on the Government of Spain to specify the next steps.
“We are making progress. The City Council is doing its part and Urban Planning is doing an extraordinary job to ensure the land is available. Now it is the Government of Spain's turn to do theirs: to advance in the processing, tender, and execute the desalination plant.”
Lupiáñez recalled that the preliminary project was delivered in March in Axarquía, at an event attended by the first vice president and minister of finance, María Jesús Montero, and has requested that the announcement be followed up with concrete actions.
“In March, we had the preliminary project here and heard the Government's commitment. Months have passed and this region still needs certainty. What we are asking for now is very simple: that the next steps are taken, that there is a timeline, and that we know when the execution of an infrastructure that is essential to guarantee the water of our land will begin.”
The mayor defended that the desalination plant “is not a partisan issue, but a strategic necessity for the future of Axarquía,” both to guarantee supply and to strengthen the resources available for agriculture.
“Vélez-Málaga is doing its part. We have put in the work, we have put in the resources, and we are making progress with the land. Now we also want to see action from the Government of Spain. Axarquía needs water, needs certainty, and needs this desalination plant to move forward.”
With the initial approval of the project, the land is set to be made available to the central government, which is responsible for tendering and executing the plant. The next pending milestone is for the Government to specify a construction timeline.
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