# Still spoiling it all .... ?



## Suenneil (Feb 17, 2009)

I came across this article earlier today and there are some pretty awful photos of the coastline as it is today ...... maybe you can argue they have been selective in their choice ? BUT I do think something needs to be done ....... I suppose a lot of this construction took place years ago before people realised the eventual damage they were causing and the obvious eyesores they were building!

Lets hope its stops soon and that some of it the original beauty of the coast can be reclaimed ... 

The destruction of Spain's coastline | World news | guardian.co.uk


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Its interesting to see that one of Torremolinos in 1959, WOW!!. Yes they have gona a bit tooo far with the buildings... demand, lack of thought and greed I suppose. What can they do with it all now??... That said there are still some lovely places along the costas, I just hope the dont keep building and until fairly recently the have been!!!

Its those overbuilt sights that can put people off Spain!

Jo xxx


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## Suenneil (Feb 17, 2009)

jojo said:


> Its interesting to see that one of Torremolinos in 1959, WOW!!. Yes they have gona a bit tooo far with the buildings... demand, lack of thought and greed I suppose. What can they do with it all now??... That said there are still some lovely places along the costas, I just hope the dont keep building and until fairly recently the have been!!!
> 
> Its those overbuilt sights that can put people off Spain!
> 
> Jo xxx


Its a sad state really .... now its there they cant really change it - but the upside of the recession I suppose is that they cant build anymore ! not for a while anyway ... and I hope they dont.

The thing is everyone at the beginning would have wanted to be on the beach / close to the beach and were willing to pay for it ..... so the Spanish built it ..... and its a bit late for some areas to ever recover.

I did say they had probably been selective with the pics - because Im sure there are still more unspoilt parts of the coast than there are ruined ones! 

Staggering how much some places have changed through .... Torremolinos, Benidorm etc .... unbelievable and in such a relatively short period of time .


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## Chica (Mar 23, 2009)

The coast road on the Almeria/ Murcia border is totally inspoilt. They are not allowed to build anywhere on the coast except for a couple of small, tastefull urbanisations. I am really talking about the drive from say Mojacar to Aguilas. Leave vera behind  then it's all good.


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## Twain (May 24, 2009)

They sure have spoiled many good locations along the coastline.

But, these pictures I can't trust.

If you see at picture no. 7 it's supposed to show Torremolinos in '59.
Then take a look at picture no. 8.
It's not even close to being the same place!
That said, I'm sure that the picture no.8 did look better in '59 then today 

No.9 is so stupid that I can't find any words.
Any closeup of a building like that doesn't tell the viewer anything at all.

If they're going to compare sites they'll have to stop lying so obviously.
The Benidorm examples was better (at least the ones covering the beach)

I have one question.
All over the place they build tall buildings "on the beach".
Does noone fear that the erosion would take them some day?

And the same goes for building on top and front of large "sand" top.
It would never be allowed to build like that in Norway, too risky.








(chica's picture as an example)


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Twain said:


> They sure have spoiled many good locations along the coastline.
> 
> But, these pictures I can't trust.
> 
> ...


Very true, those photos were all shown at their worst deliberately, typical media! Altho having seen some of those areas, there is a lot of rather tasteless buildings about.


Jo xxx


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## Twain (May 24, 2009)

I've been down the coast and have seen it with my own eyes. So yes, it's not good. That's the reason for me wanting to move to a small town.

Still, to manipulate the viewer like the media does is wrong and in the end noone cares.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

I can see that hotel in Cullera in the very very far distance through my binoculars. Its not good, obviously, but not as bad as the pics make out. I know the construction at Altea and that is a disaster .... its a beautiful piece of coastline between Altea & Calpe, and its completely [email protected] A real shame.

Not all the Costas are like that though (yet) and I think its fair to say that the newspaperw probably picked the worst pictures they could.

Benidorm was built for a purpose. Many dont like it (what it stands for) but what it is, is what they had in mind when they started it ..... Good or bad it serves its purpose


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## SunnySpain (Jul 30, 2008)

I agree, the high-rise buildings near the coast are horrid and if it were my decision I would have em all demolished, each and every one of em.

I just hope the unspoilt costas remain that way.


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

Well, I was impressed with the close attention to detail (not!) 

Calpe is now near Valencia is it? Not only have they taken the most unattractive possible photo of a particularly pleasant town but they have moved it 100+km up the coast. 

Benidorm IS Benidorm - punto, final. It's what Pedro Zaragoza intended when he had his town plan as mayor of Benidorm and some people would say that it's good that it's all there in one spot. Personally I am far more upset about them digging into the landside of the Sierra Helada 10 kms to the north. To me that IS a sacrilege and, yes, it is meant to be a Parque Natural of the Comunidad Valenciana. They "got away with it" by starting to dig hours before the paperwork was signed ("estamos en España" comes to mind) The flaunting of the Ley de la Costa is scandalous but "estamos en España" comes to mind LOL Some councils, Alfaz del Pi and Guardamar seem to take it seriously. Others Orihuela and Altea seem to ignore it whilst others Calpe and Marbella seemed to make decisions according to the timetable of local elections and other equally "interesting" reasons. Mmmmmmm.

If you want hotels in coastal resorts you have to take the good with the bad. I remember Calas de Mallorca when it was a depressing two burro village in the 1980s. I have to say I prefer it a lot more now. 

PS Twain, Spain may not be a land of stavkirke but please do not try to make me believe that the modern buildings in Oslo should be awarded medals for their architectural beauty! Atocha, Madrid beats the hell out of Sentralen, Oslo and María Zambrano, Málaga ALMOST makes shopping bearable. Torget Vest in Drammen? I don't think so!


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## Twain (May 24, 2009)

SteveHall said:


> PS Twain, Spain may not be a land of stavkirke but please do not try to make me believe that the modern buildings in Oslo should be awarded medals for their architectural beauty! Atocha, Madrid beats the hell out of Sentralen, Oslo and María Zambrano, Málaga ALMOST makes shopping bearable. Torget Vest in Drammen? I don't think so!


Hehe, noone likes Oslo (apart from the primeminister).
And that goes for both the old and new buildings. City planning? I don't think so.
The city is grey and boring.
The best in Norway isn't the cities but the untouched nature in the rest of our long country.

Take a look at "Lofoten" (north in Norway).
Take a look at our fjords, both north and on the west cost.
"Geiranger fjorden" with the tall waterfalls.
"Hardanger fjorden" and the alps in "Sunnmøre" (north west coast)

I collected some pictures from the web and posted them online if you want to take a look at some of what Norway has to offer.
Scaled them to hopefully fit your slow internet connections in Spain 

Norway gallery


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

Great photos - yes, thanks for sharing. Next summer I have promised myself hurtigruten 
(full-blown 12 day Bergen-Kirkenes) and one day I WILL walk St. Olavsleden 

The family is just outside Bergen near Dale - pretty dramatic there too. 

I am a huge fan of Norway - just not the cost of living or the weather (although +34% on the Swedish border at Svinesund today)


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## Twain (May 24, 2009)

Found some more here :
Lofoten - The Polymer Research Group, Department of Chemistry, University of Oslo

Yes, Bergen and the coastline is nice.
Helgelandskysten also, (just north of Trondheim up to Bodø).

Can't imagine this to be filled with houses, hotels and so on like the costline in spain - but than again, we don't have the warm climate


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## mayotom (Nov 8, 2008)

Picture 3,

Altea, costa del Sol? where is that? or is it actually Blanca

tormolinas in 59 and now, two totally different locations, 


this is a totally flawed sequence of photos, they could have done it properly and show the issues 

does anybody know if they have finally decided to demolish Bananna beach buildings in Marbella, its been talked about for a while

in Kellys/The Claddagh Bar in Marbella there are photos of the area in the mid 60's all that is there is the building that the The Claddagh is in then the old town about 2km away, now all there is, is ugly buildings


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## crookesey (May 22, 2008)

Suenneil said:


> I came across this article earlier today and there are some pretty awful photos of the coastline as it is today ...... maybe you can argue they have been selective in their choice ? BUT I do think something needs to be done ....... I suppose a lot of this construction took place years ago before people realised the eventual damage they were causing and the obvious eyesores they were building!
> 
> Lets hope its stops soon and that some of it the original beauty of the coast can be reclaimed ...
> 
> The destruction of Spain's coastline | World news | guardian.co.uk


I am familiar with the area depicted in photo 10, but never in my wildest dreams, did I ever imagine that it could look that bad from the perspective that it was taken from. I am assuming that it is the Levante beach front, on the northern side of the Penon that is depicted.

High rise beach front development was supposed to be coming to an end, but there was still plenty of it going on when my wife and I went for a stroll on the southern Calpe promenade last October. Perhaps the credit crunch will have the effect of lowering demand for holiday apartments, and in so doing will bring to an end this type of construction.


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## SunnySpain (Jul 30, 2008)

crookesey said:


> High rise beach front development was supposed to be coming to an end, but there was still plenty of it going on when my wife and I went for a stroll on the southern Calpe promenade last October. Perhaps the credit crunch will have the effect of lowering demand for holiday apartments, and in so doing will bring to an end this type of construction.



I so wish you were right, but sadly I think the Pound is on the up against the Euro and of course the Dollar, which makes me think the opposite will happen

Unfortunately Spain needs the extra money more than most european economies and will almost certainly just allow these projects to continue

But it sure it is a horrid shame


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

SunnySpain said:


> I so wish you were right, but sadly I think the Pound is on the up against the Euro and of course the Dollar, which makes me think the opposite will happen
> 
> Unfortunately Spain needs the extra money more than most european economies and will almost certainly just allow these projects to continue
> 
> But it sure it is a horrid shame


So, we want the "ley de costas" to kick in seriously then....... do we - really?!

By the way didn't they spend a fortune a few years back to sort out Benidorm?! 
Didn't work then!!


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

SunnySpain said:


> I so wish you were right, but sadly I think the Pound is on the up against the Euro and of course the Dollar, which makes me think the opposite will happen
> 
> Unfortunately Spain needs the extra money more than most european economies and will almost certainly just allow these projects to continue
> 
> But it sure it is a horrid shame



In my opinion its these ugly "projects" and overbuilding that actually is putting people off coming to spain! For example, to most people, the word "Benidorm" brings thoughts of uglyskyscrapers, overbuilt streets, british bars, 100s of tacky and shabby hotels....!! 

If they're gonna build more then more thought, style and taste needs to be used. Altho that doesnt help the mess thats already in some places!

Jo


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## crookesey (May 22, 2008)

jojo said:


> In my opinion its these ugly "projects" and overbuilding that actually is putting people off coming to spain! For example, to most people, the word "Benidorm" brings thoughts of uglyskyscrapers, overbuilt streets, british bars, 100s of tacky and shabby hotels....!!
> 
> If they're gonna build more then more thought, style and taste needs to be used. Altho that doesnt help the mess thats already in some places!
> 
> Jo


Jo,

They never fail to sell out 'Front Line, Beach Front' apartments. The folk who buy them get magnificent, uninterupted sea views, they don't have to look at the shape and size of the building when they are sitting on their balconies, looking out to sea.

Land prices are so expensive 'Front Line Beach Front', that the only way the developers can make money is to build upwards. IMHO a good compromise would be to make developers build well back from the beach, and not in tower block styles, with gardens and pools etc, being at the front of the developments. This has been happening on the Mijas Costa for quite a while, and these developments are far more pleasing on the eye.

We are constantly pulling down ugly 1960's concrete monstrosities in the UK, and replacing them with more aesthetically pleasing structures. I see blocks of apartments in Spain, slap bang on the beach front, that look as though a good shove with a JCB would send them tumbling down. It's up to the Spanish authorites to start to clean up their act, something that they are not used to doing.


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## SunnySpain (Jul 30, 2008)

crookesey said:


> Jo,
> 
> It's up to the Spanish authorites to start to clean up their act, something that they are not used to doing.



Oh yes and apparently it will be done, manana - lol


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## Chica (Mar 23, 2009)

It's funny that I hated the highrise appartment bloques in Torrox;Costa when I first came here but as time went on I forgave them. The gardens are kept very nice and I don't tend to look up. There are some really lovely appartment blocks just outside the village on the beach (Jardinas del Mar) that actually, IMO, improve a somewhat bland beach but are no more than 7 stories high. This end of the town (El Penoncillo) is tastafully being improved.


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## SunnySpain (Jul 30, 2008)

Chica said:


> There are some really lovely appartment blocks just outside the village on the beach (Jardinas del Mar) that actually, IMO, improve a somewhat bland beach but are no more than 7 stories high. This end of the town (El Penoncillo) is tastafully being improved.



Only 7 stories high eh, how wonderful 

So that would only be about 100 neighbours then - lol


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

You are not going to like this about legalising the developments I fear:

Costa del Sol Bargains: Soon to be Legalised | Latest Spanish Property news from Kyero.com


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## Chica (Mar 23, 2009)

SunnySpain said:


> Only 7 stories high eh, how wonderful
> 
> So that would only be about 100 neighbours then - lol


Sorry. I must correct that. 5 stories high from bottom to top. Not that it really matters as they are nice appartment blocks IMO, inside too.:eyebrows:


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## Tootsie (Jul 16, 2008)

Really bad sequence of photos  Apparently Benidorm is now on the Costa Del Sol too!!


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## Suenneil (Feb 17, 2009)

*Greenpeace highlights threat to Calahonda ...*

SurinEnglish today commenting on the potential destruction caused by dredging in the seas around Calahonda .... just to give us more sand on our beaches ..... I wish we could start putting some of these things right again instead of ripping it apart ... Sue 


The ecological association Greenpeace has underlined the threats posed to the Calahonda seabed by sand extraction projects in its annual report 'Destruction at all costs.' The coast is the zone of maximum confluence between the Mediterranean sea and the Atlantic ocean, and as such is an area of great biodiversity, named 'the richest sea in Europe' by the Department of Zoology of the University of Malaga (UMA).
According to Greenpeace, this space between Cabopino and Calaburra, which is protected as a place of communal interest, is being hounded, not only by urbanisation and coastal pollution, but also by the proposed future dredging of 135 hectares of seafloor sand in the name of beach regeneration. The study of environmental impact carried out by the UMA disagrees, but the Environment Ministry has not yet ruled out this zone.
'The Mijas coast has an indeterminate biological worth. It is unique in its variety of exotic African, European, Mediterranean and Atlantic species, indeed it could be said that this stretch of 3,000 hectares six kilometres long is the only tropical coast in Europe,' points out the UMA.
Greenpeace also highlights the dressing down which the Spanish government received due to carrying out sand extractions in underwater seabeds, destroying plant species which are protected at a European level. The group also criticises future plans for the desalination of at least three kilometres of the Calahondan coast, which it classifies as a 'threat'.


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