Malaga asks EU for help to get business park off the ground on land originally set aside for failed Expo '27 exhibition

Malaga city council is keeping alive the project to develop a business park on land in the Buenavista area, between the Intelhorce logistics depots and the Guadalhorce valley motorway, which were to have hosted the failed 2027 international exhibition.

The council cabinet meeting on Friday, 13 June, established a collaboration agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB), under which a division of this EU financial institution will provide free advice to the city council to analyse the viability of this operation.

Assistance will be provided by the circular city centre (C3) - an EIB-led centre of expertise and resources to support EU cities in their transition to a circular economy. "The aim of this collaboration between Malaga city council, the EIB and a multidisciplinary team of consultants from the C3 is to guarantee the viability and circular impact of the Buenavista project, as well as the steps needed to implement it and obtain financing," said the rulling councillors.

"The programme includes the incorporation of all those tools that allow obtaining the necessary technical feasibility from the point of view of circularity, the elaboration of financial models, economic feasibility assessments, and all those that are considered necessary," they added.

Entitled 'Buenavista sustainable urban solutions Business Park', the project, designed by consultancy firm Arup, plans to develop a sustainable urban solutions business park on 27 hectares crossed by the Merino stream, next to which abundant green areas will be created. As reported by SUR last year, to the west of the central area of this business park - where the logistics section for the Expo was to be built - a reserve area remains for a possible expansion of the freight transport centre, as contemplated in the city's planning.

However, the success of this proposal depends on two variables. Firstly, that the city council gets ownership of the Buenavista land, which is still in the hands of Spain's central government. For the Expo bid, in November 2022, the mayor signed an agreement with the public business entity for land (SEPES) to reserve 51.2 hectares through a memorandum of understanding that has now become meaningless with the cancellation of the 2027 event. However, as confirmed by this state entity, talks are held with the city council to exchange the space of this future business park "for some land for residential use that will allow SEPES to meet the government's objective of promoting housing policies", i.e. for the construction of VPOs (subsidised housing).

Secondly, the development of this business park dedicated to "sustainable urban solutions" will depend to a large extent on the interest of companies dedicated to this field to establish themselves in the city. Although the area has remained undeveloped for decades, it is now beginning to be transformed with projects such as the nearby Amazon logistics centre on Intelhorce land, which is already in operation, and the Cortijo Merino development, where work has already begun on the development of 1,250 homes. SEPES is also processing a project with the municipal urban planning department to develop land next to this possible business park, where 1,348 subsidised housing units will be built.