Court Blocks Torrevieja Skyscraper Project

The Supreme Court has blocked the construction of a skyscraper project in Torrevieja, that would have seen the construction of a 26-storey, 80 metres high residential block on the beachfront designed by Baraka and Metrovacesa by considering “binding and mandatory” the reports from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition against the project.

Thus, the construction, where there is another project promoted by Metrovacesa, will not be allowed to go ahead after the Ministry report, on which the Supreme Court’s ruling is based, points out that the towers “limit the visual field, adding an unwanted effect of verticality that bursts into the landscape”.

There are two rulings against the projects, that of the Supreme Court and another issued by the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community. Both point out that article 30 of the Coastal Law, which states that “the formation of architectural screens or accumulation of volumes must be avoided” is applicable to this project since it is an unconsolidated urban land. In the opinion of the courts, the construction of these towers would represent a visual screen and an architectural barrier in an area where there are no buildings of this type.

Thus, in the case of the Baraka Towers, the Valencian court annuls the resolution of the municipal plenary session issued in 2021 in which the detailed study was approved, while the Supreme Court does the same with the Metrovacesa Towers project, based to those binding Ministry reports.

According to the official figures from the Institute of National Statistics, around a quarter of the existing properties in Torrevieja are already vacant.