The Girona municipality will challenge in court the suspension of the Generalitat’s construction licenses, arguing that it already had rights contracted with several promoters
The first-time visitor will have a hard time finding something but Begur, one of the delights that overlook the Empordà coast of the Costa Brava. Its narrow streets, its watchtowers and its vertiginous crystalline coves hopelessly dazzle the traveler. But Begur also embodies some of the evils of urbanism of the last decades: from the proliferation of isolated urbanizations to the overabundance of second homes, 64% of all its real estate stock. With only 4,200 inhabitants, its population multiplies by 10 during the summer, when the villages scattered around its hills are filled with vacationers. A disjointed network that disturbs some biological corridors essential for the preservation of the ecosystem, according to ecologists.
The Urban Master Plan for the Review of Non-Sustainable Soils on the Girona Coast, approved in January 2020 after almost two years of processing, prescribed almost one Twenty interventions in Begur, where finally halted the construction of 629 homes. The bulk of the interventions have opted for declassify soils that until now were considered developable or urban to include them in a special protection regime and transform them into undeveloped land. The reasons vary, but in many cases the Generalitat has sought to preserve forest areas, biological corridors or landscape frames that had been altered by the urbanization of the now declassified sectors.
The purge has not pleased the Begur City Council, led by the mayor of Junts, Maite Jungle. The council argues that had signed urban agreements to develop some of the paralyzed sectors, which is why it has taken the first steps to challenge the plan before the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia through a administrative litigation. “The Generalitat has forgotten the municipal autonomy and has planned behind the back of the City Council & rdquor ;, ensure municipal sources from Begur. “They are changing the rules of the game. Land that they said was buildable, no longer is. We do not agree with that & rdquor ;.
Negotiation with several municipalities
Begur was not the only consistory to raise doubts about the master plan. they did too Palafrugell, Sant Feliu de Guixols, Castell-Platja d’Aro, calong, Palamos Y countries. In March 2021 they sent a request to the Generalitat asking for clarification on various technical aspects of the document. “They were concerned about one of the items in the plan. They thought that its criteria were not objective enough and they feared that it would end up generating legal uncertainty&rdquor ;, assure sources from the Department of Territory and Sustainability. The Generalitat chose to negotiate and ended up filing the wording, thus aborting the possibility of resorting to the courts, as Begur will finally do.
“Many promoters warned the municipalities that if the plan was approved, they would not only demand patrimonial responsibilities to the Generalitat, but also to them. Hence there was some anxiety among some mayors & rdquor ;, says Josep Maria Aguirre, professor of Administrative Law and member of the Girona urban planning commission that approved the plan. For the time being, the Government has not carried out a providing funds to meet potential compensation.
Agreements signed with the owners of the land
In the case of Begur, the concern stems not so much from the money that it would have to disburse to the owners of the land, but from the income that it will lose as a result of its declassification. “We have agreements signed as they have advanced us money. We are talking about half a million euros, not to mention all that it entails in loss of contributions & rdquor ;, they assure from the municipality. Those same sources maintain that, at least a dozen owners will go to court to demand compensation from the Generalitat, although none of the promoters consulted by this newspaper wanted to comment on the matter.
The profile of the latter has been changing for some time in the Baix Empordà. They are becoming more active investment funds, who build luxury homes for mostly foreign clients. “They buy several plots and put them together, so that some urbanizations end up appearing that have nothing to do with the initially planned dimensions & rdquor ;, says the architect Josep Ferrés Marcó, a member of SOS Costa Brava, the federation of civic platforms that has exerted the most pressure in recent years to demand the protection of the coastline.
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The master plan has put an end to some of these projects, such as those planned in the hills of Sa Riera or the Aiguafreda cove, but has left others intact, such as the urbanization that is being built in the old S’Antigua quarry, embedded in a mantle of pines. “At the current rate, in 10 years the building land will be finished in Begur, but neither the builders nor the promoters are going to lose their jobs. More and more people choose to rehabilitate and rebuild old homes & rdquor ;, says the architect Ferrés Marcó.
In his opinion, there were not many other alternatives than the massive suspension of licenses dictated by the Government throughout the coast because, as happens in other parts of the Costa Brava, overcrowding puts the water and electrical resources from Begur at the edge of collapse. “Developers should rather think that if we continue to build at a breakneck pace and consolidate all buildable land with outdated regulations, the only thing they will achieve is kill the goose that lays the golden eggs”.