The spokesperson for Con Málaga, Toni Morillas, demands that the City Council halt any urban development operations in Cerro de la Tortuga and protect the pine forest and archaeological site. The party will present a motion in the Urbanism Commission next Monday.
The spokesperson for Con Málaga, Toni Morillas, has called on the City Council of Málaga this Friday to stop any planned urban development operations in Cerro de la Tortuga, an area of ancient pine forest located between the gardens of Castañón de Mena and the plaza Manos Unidas, in the vicinity of Hacienda Cabello. The demand, as reported by Diario Sur, will be conveyed to the City Council through a motion that the party will present next Monday in the Urbanism Commission.
Morillas explained that this document will include the demands of the Cerro Tortuga Neighbourhood Association, created a year ago, and will propose the need to halt the urbanisation process on the hill. The spokesperson thanked the residents for their efforts to protect a site they consider to have ecological and landscape value.
“It is the residents themselves who, on many occasions, have to come here to carry out cleaning tasks to prevent what has already happened several times: fires occurring”
Among the demands of Con Málaga is the creation of a special protection plan that guarantees the existence of a “large peri-urban forest” throughout the surrounding area of the hill, as well as the enhancement of the archaeological site, declared a Cultural Heritage Asset.
The spokesperson has framed these requests in the context of climate change and mentioned the falling of several trees in recent weeks, such as the ficus of La Paz, which has already been replaced by a young specimen, and three dragon trees in the Barriada de los Corazones. In her view, these episodes are a wake-up call regarding the lack of maintenance.
The neighbourhood association insists on the cultural and biodiversity importance of the territory. They remind that protected species such as common chameleons, red squirrels, and tawny owls inhabit the area, and they request that no construction takes place in this part. “Our intention is to preserve this privileged environment that we have here,” they state.
The residents fear that undeclared plots as green areas will be exploited to build mini-flats, which would fragment the pine forest and force the felling of centuries-old trees. “All this forms a continuum, an ecological corridor that allows species to move freely here. If you cut or fragment, if you take the first bite, there’s no turning back,” they warn.
The City Council, for its part, maintains that of the four cadastral plots that concern the residents, none is designated for housing: two are reserved for green areas and the other two for educational use, so construction will proceed for that purpose when appropriate. The City Council adds that these lands are not municipal, although it does not specify which entity would be responsible. The association asserts that, cadastral and registral-wise, they belong to the City Council as they were received in the compensation board of Hacienda Cabello.
The motion from Con Málaga will be debated on Monday in the Urbanism Commission of the City Council of Málaga.
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