Around 400 protesters of many nationalities took to the streets on Saturday evening to express their disgust at mass building planned for one of the Costa Blanca’s prettiest coves – El Portet de Moraira. Juliet Allaway was there to talk to the demonstrators.
SOS Moraira – Teulada’s Association’s call for nature lovers to unite against speculators intending to build flats on a Costa Blanca beauty spot - did not fall on deaf ears. “Moraidorm, no thanks!”, “Speculators – get out of El Portet!”, “Let the Mayor resign!” “More green areas, less concrete,” were just some of the shouts of the hundreds of men, women and children who congregated on El Portet beach at 7pm last Saturday night, united in a desire to bring the plight of a unique natural landscape to the attention of the public.
According to the association, which has commissioned several studies from official organisations, the narrow beach will be unable to sustain greater numbers of tourists, and the delicate ecological balance of the bay will be disturbed, the ravine, soon to be turned into a car park for 220 cars, will no longer be able to drain the area, and heavy flooding will occur during the autumn rains. What’s more, El Portet’s crystal clear water, which maintains its turquoise hues thanks to the underwater meadows of Posodonia seaweed, will be threatened by the extra strain put on the bay by a large influx of tourists.
The main bone of contention between the protestors and the council is an area of 7,000 m2 currently forested by mature pine trees and blanketed by protected plants, which forms the green lungs of this unspoilt coastal spot. The pinewoods, on which just eight houses were to be built occupying 25% of the land, will now disappear under blocks of flats occupying around 75%. Mayor José Ciscar and his councillors approved a plan to allow for blocks of apartments to be built on a pine forest in exchange  for a multi-storey car park the day before the local elections, leading to accusations of less-than-transparent governmental policies by environmentalists and residents.
“Moraira-Teulada council is always boasting about how committed they are to conserving the environment and talking about Agenda 21
(an action plan that makes environmental protection mandatory locally, nationally and internationally, carried out by the UN, the government and ecological  groups) but are a lot quieter when it comes to letting people know when they’re building on forests”, said one protestor. “The owners of the land are going to get a 13 million euro profit and a unique natural landscape will be destroyed forever. That’s pure speculation.” Research carried out by the group reveals that land owners will receive this sum between them in capital gains in exchange for the building work to be allowed to proceed – however, Teulada’s Mayor hotly denies these allegations, branding them “totally unreal” and “false”.

In a telephone interview with Mayor José Ciscar earlier this year, the CB Friday was told that the council has no choice but to honour building permits granted for the land many years ago. The mayor told us how the council does not have enough money to compensate the land owners for refusing building permits, and that the plan is the best solution, but several protestors insisted that councils revoke permits all the time and do not see why this case should be any different. Ciscar also claimed that the protests are being lodged by families from Valencia city wanting to keep the area for themselves and says that by building the multi-storey car park and children’s playground and closing off part of the road near the beach to traffic, the area will be more accessible to everyone. However, we spoke to people of many nationalities at the demonstration, some of whom had travelled from neighbouring towns to show their support for the fight against the building project.
After walking from El Portet to Moraira town centre, the crowd listened while SOS Moraira-Teulada founder José Chiarri read the group’s manifesto, which was greeted with applause and cheering. The manifesto was then read in English for the benefit of the many foreigners and interested holiday-makers who stopped to find out what was going on.
It now remains to be seen whether the authorities are prepared to live up to their claims of being environmentally friendly and committed to the principles of sustainable tourism and ecology. Moraira’s main attraction has always been the beauty of its coastline and the lack of concentrated building.

If you would like to support the cause and save El Portet, write to Teulada-Moraira Town Hall or visit SOS Moraira’s website: www.sosmoraira.org