A report by the director-conservator of the Southern Alicante Natural Parks, which has been part of the initial planning files for the La Ceñuela partial plan in Torrevieja since 2021, deems building facilities on plots between the CV-95 highway and the local lagoon incompatible with environmental rules. Amongst these plots is land offered by Torrevieja City Council to the Valencian Regional Government to expand the Torrevieja University Hospital, which still features in the current version of the development proposal. The senior technical officer for the Torrevieja and La Mata lagoons natural park has maintained his stance despite a new report in the planning file, which outlines proposals for 1,347 homes in the area. Environmental group Friends of the Southern Alicante Wetlands highlighted the existence of the document in their formal objections.
The director’s ruling forms part of the ongoing administrative process for Sector 29 La Ceñuela, a scheme dating back to 2005. The proposal, revived under the previous municipal administration and passed by the full council, projects housing for a population of roughly 3,367 people alongside commercial units, green areas, and public facilities adjacent to Los Balcones, Los Altos, and Torrevieja University Hospital. The sector covers 291,644 square metres, growing to 428,596 square metres when including space set aside for roads, parks, and public amenities. Most of the land belongs to Explotaciones Agrícolas La Ceñuela, the firm designated as the urban development agent in 2005.
Specifically, Torrevieja City Council and the landowner initiated the approval process for an agreement to hand over this 11,500-square-metre plot without making mention of the natural park director’s report. The fact that the official’s position has been upheld across various other natural park resolutions in recent years was also omitted. The matter similarly passed through plenary debate without note, possibly because the original document referenced using the plot for a school rather than the currently planned health centre expansion. However, the site location, intended public use, and environmental reserve status remain identical.
No construction allowed in protected zone
The warning from the director-conservator is long-standing. Dated 13th October 2021, it cautions that part of the plan falls inside the perimeter regulated by the Natural Resources Management Plan for the Southern Alicante Wetlands System, affecting land designated for public amenities. The impact centers on land near the hospital, covering planned green spaces as well as the 11,000-square-metre plot originally earmarked for educational facilities and now promoted for expanding the university hospital.
The report distinguishes between two separate zones. In Predominantly Agricultural Area A, located behind the hospital, the director rejects proposals to turn open land into a conventional urban garden, requesting instead that it be restored with native natural vegetation. While public access could be allowed, conservation director Francisco Martínez stressed that design must follow ecological criteria to ensure minimal impact on the lagoon, biodiversity, and local salt production.
The decision is even more definitive regarding Area B, designated for the hospital expansion. The director-conservator ruled that building a higher education facility on the site—the intention back in 2021—was incompatible with the zone and insisted no buildings should be constructed there. The report recommended natural regeneration of the plot using the same criteria applied to the adjacent green zone, which currently contains a citrus farm. This conclusion goes beyond suggesting minor adjustments, flatly declaring the intended development incompatible with regulations protecting the wetland.
Relocation of educational facilities
This background was considered during subsequent planning reviews, and the version submitted to the full council attempted to address the objection by reorganising facilities. Updated documentation places two educational plots in the south-eastern corner of the sector, alongside the road connecting Monteperdido Street and Tomás Boj Avenue with the CV-95. Combined, these cover 31,718 square metres, with planning notes indicating they could house pre-school, primary, and secondary schools. These new locations sit beside existing and future residential areas, outside the parcel where the director-conservator rejected the education centre. However, the plan retains an 11,492-square-metre plot set aside for multi-purpose public facilities within the protected zone, stipulating that permitted uses must strictly comply with regional environmental regulations (PORN) and territorial action plans (PATIVEL).
Growth limits treated as indicative
Further objections came from the Territorial Planning Service. In May 2023, the body calculated that Torrevieja had a maximum ceiling of 728,940 square metres available for new residential growth. La Ceñuela was required to justify its inclusion within that overall limit alongside other municipal development schemes, prompting formal council debate.
Torrevieja City Council subsequently consulted the General Directorate of Urban Planning, Landscape, and Environmental Assessment. In July 2024, the regional body concluded that growth limits outlined in the Valencian Community’s Territorial Strategy were non-binding and that local circumstances permitted them to be exceeded, citing the hospital’s status as a facility serving the wider region. This interpretation allowed the planning application to proceed.
In objections recently submitted by Friends of the Wetlands, environmentalists noted that had Torrevieja formally approved its General Structural Plan—a document revision that has remained stalled for six years—the municipality would not have been able to reclassify land at La Hoya or process the current development at La Ceñuela.
Regulatory compliance issues
Public authorities operating around the natural park have historically faced criticism over adherence to environmental rules when fitting public infrastructure into land surrounding the Torrevieja and La Mata lagoons. Examples include the main hospital itself, built just metres from the natural park boundary in the 2000s; the desalination plant, which was opposed by the regional government on environmental grounds before being pushed through by central government; and a private hospital development. Similar issues extended to private projects, including the approval of the Raso development and the ongoing operation of an unlicensed market with 600 stalls in Guardamar, all of which have created significant environmental pressure on the protected wetland.