RISING high over the picturesque Spanish coastline in a holiday hotspot popular with Brits is an enormous abandoned hotel branded a “monstrosity”.
The so-called Ghost Hotel of Algarrobico has been sitting half-built for nearly 20 years just metres from the coastline in the Cabo de Gata National Park.
The Ghost Hotel of Algarrobico has sat unfinished for 20 years[/caption]
Construction was halted in 2006 – and 17 years later the cranes still stand[/caption]
The hotel is now overgrown and covered in graffiti[/caption]
Almeria is the third most popular region of Spain for UK expats and welcomes 2million tourists each year – and those who explore its beautiful coastline may have stumbled across the eerie structure.
It stands 21-storeys tall and was planned to have more than 400 rooms with stunning sea views and swimming pools just a stone’s throw from the beach.
Three cranes even still stand on the site – frozen in time from the day workmen downed tools for the last time.
Work on the towering structure began in 2003 by the Spanish company Azata.
But what followed was 20 years of rows with environmental activists and the national park authority which left the hotel’s shell sitting abandoned – having never opened its door to holidaymakers.
The hotel is located just 50 feet from the shoreline and was hoped to be a statement resort for the area.
But after three years of controversial construction all development was halted back 2006.
Environmental activists lobbied to have the hotel project shut down as it was being built on the national park’s protected land.
The hotel row has in the intervening 17 years been dragged through the courts some 20 separate occasions.
Local press branded the hotel a “monstrosity”.
And with the row ongoing, just last month Carboneras Council declared the land the hotel is built on as “undevelopable”.
It paves the way for the structure to be demolished after sitting unoccupied for nearly two decades, reported Murcia Today.
The hotel has become an eyesore and stand derelict, still littered with construction equipment, covered in graffiti and being battered by the coastal winds.
Knocking down such an enormous structure however poses a new wave of challenges for locals.
“How the Algarrobico hotel can still exist is a mystery, but unfortunately the truth is that it is not an isolated case,” Pilar Marcos, a biologist from Greenpeace, told The New York Times.
However, while many believe such an enormous structure should never have been built in such as beautiful area – others feel like it’s reputation is slowing down on all other development in the region.
Cato de Gata is popular with tourists – but there no accommodation with more than 45 rooms within the park’s borders.
And other developers have said the abandoned monster is impacting attempts to bring in more tourists and drive the local economy.
“The Algarrobico was a giant aberration that has unfortunately stigmatized any kind of new economic activity in this whole area,” said Ivan García, who wants to open a boutique hotel.
“If nobody creates jobs around here, we will not protect this beautiful area but instead allow it to depopulate completely and die off.”
The construction is now set to be demolished – but when?[/caption]
The beachside hotel never welcomed any guests[/caption]
Category: News, World News, Hotels
