The query is, not solely does Nerja want a golf course, but in addition is it environmentally viable?

However let’s begin initially: 16 months after Nerja City Corridor accredited the urban-development venture the ponderous wheels of bureacratic course of continues to trundle ahead; the Junta de Andalucía, has now subjected the venture that can have an effect on 200 hectares of land in Maro to public inspection.

Sociedad Azucarera Larios SL needs to construct an 18-hole, golf course, 596 high-end dwellings, luxurious inns and business areas. Two years in the past, when the venture first emerged, there have been 84 further dwellings contemplated however they’ve since been axed.

The golf course will embody a observe space (placing inexperienced) close to the Maro cliffs and can nearly encompass this village. Entry will probably be afforded from a brand new roundabout on the N-340 between the Maro entrance one and the sewage-treatment plant. To the North would be the residential space and to the South the golf and leisure sports activities space.

Now, we received’t bore you with extra particulars however ask as an alternative, given what we’ve got seen this yr; i.e., the drought within the Axarquía with villages having their water reduce off and fruit-tree plantations dying or being reduce down as a result of there may be not sufficient water to take care of them; with the closest reservoir at solely 12%… can a golf course be ecologically viable? We’re not speaking about financial viability (though if the previous is destructive, then inevitably so is the latter).

The entire mass of housing and inns are merely planets round a star; that’s to say, a golf course. The golf course is the very justification for the whole lot else within the venture.

If this summer season is the harbinger of a dry future – and nearly everyone from meteorologists to ecologists say that it’s… can this venture be allowed to go ahead?

Sure, a golf course can obtain its not-inconsiderable irrigation wants from recycled water, however shouldn’t agriculture be getting this treasured recourse? You may eat agricultural crops however you’ll be able to’t eat grass – you’ll be able to play golf on it, however you’ll be able to’t eat it. Sure, golf makes cash nevertheless it doesn’t make the rain.

If you wish to play golf, go to an present one equivalent to Los Moriscos in Motril or Baviera in Caleta de Vélez. It’s not handy due to the space? Effectively, neither is the seashore for individuals who reside within the inside, however they go anyway.

(Information: Maro, Axarquia, Costa del Sol, Málaga, Andalucia – Photograph: E. Cabezas)