The Plenary approves to offer the central government municipal plots where it can build more than 100 VPOs

The mayor explained that this measure is in addition to other municipal actions that include the construction, in the short term, of 1,200 subsidized housing units.

The Plenary of the Corporation has unanimously approved the offer to the central government of six municipal plots of land with capacity for the construction of 109 subsidized housing units in different areas of the city. The municipal proposal responds to the announcement recently made by the Government of Spain to mobilize up to 23,000 million euros public and private to boost the supply of housing, and finance the construction of 15,000 units per year in Spain through the fund ‘Spain Grows’. The mayor of Estepona, José María García Urbano, explained that “this is one more measure, within the intense work being done to promote the construction of affordable housing for those with greater difficulties”.

The alderman said that “in view of this announcement, this council offers the central government these plots available in Estepona so that, after the relevant assessment, can be taken into account for the construction of housing announced, so that Estepona can be favored by this measure announced by the Government of Spain. In this way, says the alderman, “we want to facilitate the Government to expedite the processing of your project so that our city can also participate in it.

The plots made available to the central government are part of a bag of land on which the City Council has been working to activate various initiatives to provide the municipality with new subsidized housing. These are two soils in the area of Casas del Padrón, for 22 and 23 vpo; two others in Llanos de la Boladilla, for 9 and 17 homes; and two plots in Camino de Cortes, for 17 and 21 homes.

The mayor recalled that, as a result of municipal policies, were delivered a hundred VPO in the area of Juan Benitez, in the northern part of the city, as well as the various measures taken in this area. Specifically, he referred to the obtaining of land to expand the stock of subsidized housing, to build, in the short term, more than 1,200 homes. In this regard, he explained that two projects are underway that will involve the construction of more than 300 subsidized housing units in the Camino de Cortes sector. Thus, building permits are already being processed for the execution of 117 subsidized housing units in the area of Camino de Cortes Sur; and on the other hand, a bidding process is being finalized for two other plots that will allow the construction of 199 subsidized housing units in Camino de Cortes Norte.

At the same time, the Estepona City Council Plenary unanimously approved the compatibility of municipal use that will enable the authorization to allocate a total of 36 municipal plots for the construction of subsidized housing. This measure is part of the Decree-Law 1/2025 of urgent measures on housing of the Junta de Andalucía.

Andalusia. The regional text allows the construction of public rental housing on plots of land that have not been used for residential purposes until now, without the need to modify the planning instruments, which allows to speed up VPO projects.

Since last April, the date on which the City Council joined this regional initiative, municipal technicians have been working on the list of public plots that could have this social use. Based on the parameters set out in the General Urban Development Plan (PGOU) of Estepona, a total of 738 homes could be built on these plots, which are distributed throughout the municipality. Among these plots are those now made available to the central government.

Economic Plan

The plenary session has also agreed on an Economic Plan, which has been reported favorably by the Municipal Intervention, which plans to continue the same path of recent years of income and expenditure, as well as the positive recovery of the expenditure rule, planning to maintain the average payment period below 30 days -currently at 16 days- and the continuation of budget surpluses in 2026 and 2027.

In this regard, it should be noted that the City Council accumulates eleven consecutive years with all its economic magnitudes in green, with historical economic results such as a surplus of more than 40 million euros and a balance in bank accounts of more than 90 million euros. The deputy mayor of the Economic Area, Ana Vilaseca, referred to the “exemplary and good results” of the municipal economic management, which has allowed “to reach the ‘zero debt’, lower taxes to citizens and make a great investment effort in the city”.

Designation of a public space for Ana Mena

The Plenary has unanimously agreed to dedicate a public space in the city to Ana Mena, the artist from Estepona with the greatest international projection. The mayor, José María García Urbano, stressed that “we are all proud of the enormous success that Ana Mena is reaping, and that she proudly carries the name of her city around the world. Therefore, Estepona will always have her in his heart”. The alderman has pointed out that this space will be “an emblematic place of the city, agreed with the artist and her family”.