- Region
- Águilas
- Alhama de Murcia
- Jumilla
- Lorca
- Los Alcázares
- Mazarrón
- San Javier
-
ALL AREAS & TOWNS
- AREAS
- SOUTH WEST
- MAR MENOR
- MURCIA CITY & CENTRAL
- NORTH & NORTH WEST
- TOWNS
- Abanilla
- Abarán
- Aguilas
- Alamillo
- Alcantarilla
- Aledo
- Alhama de Murcia
- Archena
- Balsicas
- Blanca
- Bolnuevo
- Bullas
- Cañadas del Romero
- Cabo de Palos
- Calasparra
- Camping Bolnuevo
- Campo De Ricote
- Camposol
- Canada De La Lena
- Caravaca de la Cruz
- Cartagena
- Cehegin
- Ceuti
- Cieza
- Condado de Alhama
- Corvera
- Costa Cálida
- Cuevas De Almanzora
- Cuevas de Reyllo
- El Carmoli
- El Mojon
- El Molino (Puerto Lumbreras)
- El Pareton / Cantareros
- El Raso
- El Valle Golf Resort
- Fortuna
- Fuente Alamo
- Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
- Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
- Isla Plana
- Islas Menores & Mar de Cristal
- Jumilla
- La Azohia
- La Charca
- La Manga Club
- La Manga del Mar Menor
- La Pinilla
- La Puebla
- La Torre
- La Torre Golf Resort
- La Unión
- Las Palas
- Las Ramblas
- Las Ramblas Golf
- Las Torres de Cotillas
- Leiva
- Librilla
- Lo Pagan
- Lo Santiago
- Lorca
- Lorquí
- Los Alcázares
- Los Balcones
- Los Belones
- Los Canovas
- Los Nietos
- Los Perez (Tallante)
- Los Urrutias
- Los Ventorrillos
- Mar De Cristal
- Mar Menor
- Mar Menor Golf Resort
- Mazarrón
- Mazarrón Country Club
- Molina de Segura
- Moratalla
- Mula
- Murcia City
- Murcia Property
- Pareton
- Peraleja Golf Resort
- Perin
- Pilar de la Horadada
- Pinar de Campoverde
- Pinoso
- Playa Honda
- Playa Honda / Playa Paraíso
- Pliego
- Portmán
- Pozo Estrecho
- Puerto de Mazarrón
- Puerto Lumbreras
- Puntas De Calnegre
- Region of Murcia
- Ricote
- Roda Golf Resort
- Roldan
- Roldan and Lo Ferro
- San Javier
- San Pedro del Pinatar
- Santiago de la Ribera
- Sierra Espuña
- Sucina
- Tallante
- Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
- Torre Pacheco
- Totana
- What's On Weekly Bulletin
- Yecla
- EDITIONS: Spanish News Today Alicante Today Andalucia Today
ARCHIVED - Murcia government to take ANSE naturalists to court over the purchase of Cabo Cope
The government bids to gain legal backing to gazump ANSE for ownership of the headland
The cabinet of the regional government of Murcia decided on Thursday to insist on their right to “gazump” the naturalist group ANSE and purchase the emblematic headland of Cabo Cope in the municipality of Águilas, in the south-west of the Region, and to take the matter to court in order to own the 270 hectares which are in dispute.
ANSE announced their purchase of the land from the “bad bank” Sareb in April 2020 at a bargain price of half a million euros, excited to have succeeded in their campaign to guarantee the protection of the headland (and the regional park of Cabo Cope and Puntas de Calnegre) once and for all after the area was threatened in the early years of this century by the proposed Marina de Cope development. This mega-project would not have occupied the headland itself but a large area just to the north of it, and was ruled illegal by the courts after it was deemed to include areas of protected land.
However, in September last year the regional government formally announced that it intended to make use of a right to claim priority in purchasing the 13 plots of which the land consists (under Article 40 of Law 42/2007 of December 13th) at the same price, despite having previously shown no interest in acquiring the land, according to both Sareb and ANSE (admittedly at three times the price). The Sareb (known as the bad bank) is the body set up to absorb all the assets which could be sold off when seven banks merged into Bankia after they themselves ran into financial difficulties after the property crash in 2010 due to having loaned too much money to devlopers who were unable to pay it back and went into bankruptcy.
The Sareb was set up to try and recover as much money as possible from the property and land assets of the near-bankrupt banks, a process initially expected to take only two years, but which is still ongoing. Prices of some assets have dropped considerably and many assets are now being sold off at auction to try and conclude the process.
In this case, the Sareb attempted to recover a price reflecting the original value of the land, which at one point was to have featured 9,000 homes, various hotels and sports facilities including at least one golf course and even an artificial inland harbour and marina.
Once the courts had declared that the project was illegal and the land must remain as virgin coast, the regional government declined the offer from Sareb to buy it, and the land became virtually worthless from a commercial point of view.
For ANSE, however, the value of Cabo Cope is considerable as a natural environment. On a clear day the imposing headland is visible from as far away as Cabo Tiñoso and La Azohía at the eastern end of the bay of Mazarrón, rising to a height of 242 metres above the village of Calabardina, and it is also part of the natural park of Cabo Cope and Puntas de Calnegre, declared a Site of Community Interest on account of its tectonic and geomorphological complexity, its singular vegetation, the presence of endangered species and the existence of sites of archaeological and historical interest.
In addition, the headland is home to a ZEPA birdlife protection zone, with the avian species present including the peregrine falcon, the Bonelli’s eagle and the trumpeter finch.
As a result, ANSE agreed the lower price, raising the money through crowdfunding and a collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund, but the regional government decided it could not allow the land to pass into private care due to its protection status and gazumped the ecological organisation.
ANSE however, are resisting pressure to bow to the government on this matter and are metaphorically refusing to hand over the keys. They are demanding the reimbursement of expenses incurred as a result of the loan taken out in order to complete their purchase, other administrative procedures and the campaign publicizing their purchase and their intentions. In addition, they are insisting that the revised Natural Resource Land Ordinance Plan for the area finally receive the approval which has been pending since as long ago as 1992.
It is in this context that the Murcia government has decided on legal action in order to enforce their perceived rights, and ensuing developments will be followed with great interest, not least by those keen to know what the government will do with the land if they win the court case.