ARCHIVED - Eyesore beachside hotel in Alicante is finally being demolished
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
The derelict Arenales del Sol hotel in Elche municipality is being pulled down in what the town mayor describes as "an historical event"
A symbol of the beginnings of tourism on the Costa Blanca in the 1960s, Arenales del Sol Hotel overlooking the beach in Elche has since become an eyesore and the derelict blight on the coastline is now being reduced to rubble.
Demolition work began on Tuesday October 19 following a National Court ruling, 14 years after the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) began the administrative and judicial process of having the building demolished to "restore the naturalness and public use of this stretch of beach".
Back in 2015, work began to transform the building back into a hotel, but was brought to a permanent standstill and the developer was sanctioned by the Costas (coastal) authority for "exceeding the authorisation granted".
A year later, a new proposal to demolish the existing hotel and build a new one on the same location was presented to the planning department, but was rejected in 2017 due to concessions which "only allow the existing use to be maintained, but not new construction".
Bulldozers moving in this week mark the second phase of the mammoth project, which began at the beginning of the summer when two tonnes of asbestos were removed from the former hotel, owned by Princesol, and deposited at the Cuenca landfill site.
According to the local council, demolishing the building and clearing the site will take around three weeks, and be followed by a phase of "regeneration and renaturalisation of the beachfront".
"This is an historic event for Elche. We are in the final stretch of a decision that was initially taken in 1997 and which, as a result of a long administrative and complex legal battle, has only now culminated in this situation," said Elche Mayor, Carlos González.
More than a million euros has recently been invested in Arenales del Sol beach area, with improvements to the drinking water supply network, modernisation of public spaces, large scale beach cleaning and improvements to public transport.
"Despite the pandemic, we have given a boost to the improvement of public services in this district and we will continue to work to improve the conditions and quality of life for residents," added González.
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