Mijas begins the journey to "bring out of limbo" its 96 historic urbanizations

There are unfinished housing developments, others without sanitation, and some that have even built a swimming pool where there should have been a green area. This is the complex—and asymmetrical—reality of the 96 "historical" housing developments that the Mijas City Council has identified, which are simply those that are over ten years old and 75 percent developed, and which the municipal government has committed to officially recognizing. The goal, in the words of the Councilor for Economy and Finance, Mario Bravo, is "to bring them out of limbo, from the gray area they are in." About one in three residents of Mijas live in these areas.

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Mijas takes a historic step and will officially recognize 96 housing developments before the end of the year

These residential areas are open, so that any citizen can walk or drive through them, but on paper, they are private land. Given the reality of public use, the City Council already provides services such as lighting, but each time there is a need to spend money in these residential areas, the municipal auditor raises what is technically known as an objection, meaning they do not approve the expenditure because theoretically, it is public money being spent on a private road (even though it is practically public). Bravo acknowledges that "there are increasingly more problems," which is why the municipal government has decided to address the official recognition of the housing developments through this legal text. And not just because of these objections: what happens if a person or their vehicle is damaged due to the condition of the street or a falling lamppost? "It depends, there can even be contradictory rulings," explains the councilor.

Time, Knowledge, and Money

"There were two problems, the legality of the housing developments, which was resolved with the Law for the Promotion of Sustainability of the Territory of Andalusia (LISTA, approved in December 2021) and now there's the issue of the land, which we solved with the ordinance, and which will result in it being registered in the name of the City Council," explains the councilor.

"We will have to compare what the partial plan originally said about each of them and what is there today, and if there is no sanitation, it will have to be implemented, and we will see what part the residents pay and what part the City Council pays"

Mario Bravo

Councilor for Economy and Finance

For this, a process must be initiated to see what the reality is today in relation to the 96 partial plans that were made at the time. "There are housing developments built in the 60s, which were authorized without sanitation, something that would not be possible now; there are those that are unfinished; in other cases, there are guarantees that must be executed; and we will have to compare what the partial plan originally said about each of them and what is there today, and if there is no sanitation, it will have to be implemented, and we will see what part the residents pay and what part the City Council pays, and if there is a swimming pool where there should have been something else, then it will have to be demolished or it can be legalized, and the community will have to pay a fee, which is something that the law allows," explains the Councilor for Finance.

The reality of each of these residential areas is different, but "we have time, knowledge, and money" to address it, points out Bravo, who insists on the need to normalize this situation to end the legal, administrative, and economic insecurity that this scenario creates and so that all residents of Mijas, regardless of where they live, can receive the same services.