ARCHIVED - Valencia government angers Orihuela politicians with Cala Mosca protection plans

The regional government in Valencia is accused of giving priority to developers over endangered plant species

Over the last few decades the coastal area of the municipality of Orihuela has been almost entirely built up, from Mil Palmeras in the south to Punta Prima in the north, with the only exception being a small strip of land between Cala Mosca and Punta Prima. Even here there are preliminary infrastructures such as electricity supply boxes and roads, but development has been halted by the proposals to create a protected area in which the natural landscape and plant species such as the Cat's Head Rockrose (Jarilla Cabeza de Gato) are found.

The initial proposal made by Orihuela Town Hall was for 3.5 hectares of land to be protected, but local political party CLARO is now concerned that the adapted plan approved by the regional government of Valencia envisages an area of only 3 hectares, with the missing half-hectare being the area where the Cat's Head Rockrose mainly grows. On top of this, the area identified in the adapted proposal is little more than a narrow strip of land which is already a coastal walkway, and where building would not have been allowed anyway.

CLARO’s concern is that the PP-controlled regional government appears to have protected “the interests of the developer” rather than the endangered plant species, enabling plans for 1,500 more homes to go ahead while ostensibly paying lip service to ecological concerns. In light of this the party intends to support objections lodged with the government of the Comunidad Valenciana, and if adequate responses are not received is willing to take the matter once more to the European Parliament: a petition containing the signatures of 7,000 residents was already handed in by CLARO to the EU’s Petitions Committee in 2010.

Firstly, though, CLARO will be supporting the Town Hall’s objection to the plans for the protected area approved by the regional government, and closely monitoring the response from the regional authorities in Valencia. In the meantime, the arguments over the last kilometre of undeveloped coast in Orihuela ensure that, for the time being at least, the bulldozers and cranes will not be moving in.
Image: Cala Mosca copyrighted Valencia Today