Tag: Operación Chamartín

Grupo Baraka Sells a Logistics Warehouse in Murcia to Corum for €14M

11 June 2018 – Expansión

The Baraka Group, controlled by the businessman Trinitario Casanova, has closed an agreement to sell one of the logistics assets owned by its construction company Trabis.

Specifically, Baraka has sold a logistics warehouse, called Trabis II, located in the Murcian town of Yecla, the region where Casanova’s companies are headquartered. The property, which has a constructed surface area of 14,000 m2, has been sold for €14 million through a sale and leaseback contract.

“The advantage is that the buyer is guaranteed an asset in which the tenant will continue to undertake its activity”, explained Pablo Carvajal, Director of Capital Markets at Catella, the consultancy firm that has advised the new owner in the transaction.

The buyer is the French fund manager Corum Asset Management. Created in 2011 and with offices in Paris and Amsterdam, the firm set itself the objective last year of investing €500 million in real estate assets across Europe, with a special focus on Spain. For its investments, whose yields exceed 6%, Corum works with two funds Corum Origin and Corum XL, the latter was launched last year.

This is not the first time that Baraka and Corum have closed an operation together. In July 2016, the French firm paid more than €24.8 million for another logistics building also leased to Trabis.

Corum is one of the international investors that has opted to purchase logistics assets in Spain, a booming market due to its high returns and the increase in the e-commerce business. “The logistics investment market is proving attractive for domestic and international investors alike and increasingly more are investing in this type of asset. Between January and May, €250 million has been invested in these types of properties”, say sources at Catella.

At the overall level, investment during the first half of the year is expected to reach €5 billion. “During 2018, €3 billion has been invested in tertiary (non-residential) assets. Taking into account certain transactions pending completion, we expect to see investment of close to €5 billion during the first half of the year, around €1 billion less than during the same period in 2017”, he predicts.

Casanova

The divestment of this logistics warehouse comes just weeks after Trinitario Casanova entered the Madrid Nuevo Norte real estate project (known as Operación Chamartín). The businessman has committed to pay €400 million to the initial owners for the rights to 1.2 million m2 of land (now in the hands of the Ministry of Development) where the company DCN, controlled by BBVA and SanJosé, is planning to build an urban development with more than 10,500 homes.

In addition, Casanova is working on the marketing of the future shopping arcade in Edificio España, the property that he purchased from Wanda for €172 million to immediately sell it on to the RIU hotel group.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Baraka Injects €13.4M to Strengthen its Residential & Commercial Businesses

17 May 2018 – Eje Prime

Trinitario Casanova is continuing to add projects to his real estate business in Spain. The Murcian group Baraka has just injected another €13.4 million into its companies that specialise in the residential and commercial sectors. The group’s upcoming plans in Spain include initiating operations in Chamartín, where it has just acquired a plot of land measuring 1.2 million m2.

According to the Official Gazette of the Mercantile Registry (Borme), Baraka has injected another €10 million into its company Baraka Renta. That business division of the group focuses primarily on the purchase of land and the subsequent development and execution of rentals for various companies, both domestic and international, in the food sector.

Baraka has also strengthened its company Baraka House, where it has increased the share capital by €3.5 million. That branch of the group focuses on the development of high-rise homes for young people. “This new line is being carried out in the main cities in Spain thanks to the use of pre-fabricated constructions”, explain sources at Baraka.

In this way, the group is injecting new resources into its companies to undertake new real estate projects in Spain. The latest deal that Casanova has carried out focuses on Madrid, specifically the Operación Chamartín macro-project.

The Murcian businessman has paid €400 million to the original owners of some of the plots of land in Operación Chamartín for their reversion rights to develop 1.2 million m2 of land that is currently owned by Adif.

Rente expropriated these plots with the idea of building the railway station on the site, but, subsequently, the public company reached an agreement with BBVA and Grupo San José to develop the land.

Both companies created the property developer Distrito Castellana Norte (DCN), which is now leading this urban development operation that is going to build 10,500 homes on a surface area spanning 2.66 million m2.

Nevertheless, Casanova wants to take advantage of the claim being made by the reversionists, who are asking the administration to be awarded the right to acquire their former plots in the event that Renfe decided to change the use for which they were expropriated and to sell them, as has actually happened, according to these parties.

Casanova’s next steps for this project in Chamartín involve first paying a cheque for €400 million to the reversionists, who have received a small payment for now whilst they wait for the rights that they are requesting to be activated or not, and later on to pay €1 billion to Adif for the outright purchase of the plots. That is the amount that DCN has promised to pay the Spanish railway manager.

Second generation and reinforcements for the property developer 

Proof that the residential sector is firmly in Baraka’s sights came with the appointment of Fuensanta Casanova, daughter of Trinitario Casanova, as the Head of Development and Investment at Baraka, as Eje Prime revealed in Madrid (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aena Kicks Off Spain’s Largest RE Project with Public-Private Investment of €3bn

24 April 2018 – El Confidencial

Aena has fired the starting gun for the largest real estate development plan in Spain, equivalent to four times Operación Chamartín or ten times the Retiro Park. It is the Real Estate Plan for the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, which will involve a combined public-private investment of €2.997 billion.

This project, which Aena has been working on since before its stock market debut, proposes the development of 562 hectares of new land, which would allow it to place a buildable surface area of 2.68 million m2 on the market over the next 40 years.

The bulk of the land will be allocated to the development of the largest logistics centre in Spain, which will link the airport’s current cargo loading area with the Corredor del Henares, one of the main logistics regions in the country.

The land allocated to this use will span 257 hectares in total and 1.48 million m2 of buildable surface area, most of which will be developed over the next eight years, and which will mean multiplying the space in the airport dedicated to this use by ten-fold.

The rapid growth of e-commerce and the need from giants such as Amazon and Correos to have large warehouses next to Spain’s largest airport, and the gates of Madrid, are behind the business logic for this move, given that Aena is not planning to build any homes in the area.

In this way, this part of the development will be configured into parks with integrated logistics and transport services, as well as loading warehouses and distribution stores; its main objective will be to serve companies in the electronics, biopharma and perishable product businesses, amongst others. Over the next eight years, the second phase of the plan will begin, aimed at completing the logistics uses and, above all, building a new business centre, known as Airport City, to house the headquarters of large companies such as Aena itself and its parent company, Enaire, as well as four hotels that will add 900 rooms to the existing supply in Madrid.

The total surface area reserved for those uses is 62 hectares, with a forecast buildable surface area of 652,000 m2, 90% of which will be dedicated to offices.

These buildings will be located in an area adjacent to T4, which has already been pre-urbanised and which will have pedestrian access to the terminal, and which will also be connected by public transport (metro, suburban train and bus).

There will also be a leisure and shopping centre, covering a total surface area of 57 hectares and a total forecast buildable surface area of 341,000 m2, plus 298,000 m2 of green space.

Aena hopes to turn this leisure space into a magnet in its own right and, to this end, it plans to open a themed recreation area, a shopping centre, a gastronomic space, wellness areas, an aeronautical museum and panoramic observatories.

“It is an ambitious but realistic plan that is perfectly feasible”, said the Minister for Development, Iñigo de la Serna, during the presentation of the plan this morning, where he also pointed out that the urban planning procedures for these plots of land will be agile.

The plots that form part of this plan will be developed under a concession regime, given that Aena will continue to be the owner. All indications are that at its next meeting, the company’s Board of Directors, chaired by Jaime García-Legaz, will formally initiate this process.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Operación Chamartín Receives the Green Light for 10,500 Homes

17 April 2018 – El País

The Ministry of Development, the Town Hall of Madrid and the property developer Distrito Castellana Norte have reached an agreement to give the green light to Operación Chamartín, the largest urban planning project in Madrid. After more than two decades of blockades, the new plan reduces the buildability of the previous projects, with the construction of 10,510 homes in the north of the capital, 6,500 fewer than initially planned, plus a large business centre and the remodelling of the train station.

The Minister for Development, Íñigo de la Serna (pictured above), confirmed on Tuesday, that his Ministry, the Town Hall of Madrid and the property developer Distrito Castellana Norte had finally reached an agreement to initiate the procedures for the modification of the General Urban Development Plan (PGOU) of the Madrid Nuevo Norte project, known as Operación Chamartín.

In this way, the largest urban development plan in Madrid has been unblocked (at least on paper) after 25 years of obstacles and litigation cases under different governments, both from the Central Executive as well as from the Town Hall of Madrid, although the building work will not start for several years.

The project is a modification of the agreement principle reached last July, but with significant changes, such as a 6% reduction in the buildability, down from 2.83 million m2 to 2.66 million m2. Compared to the size of the project when Ana Botella was leader of the Town Hall in 2015 (3.37 million m2), the decrease in buildability amounts to more than 26% (…).

Details

20% of the homes will be subsidised (2,100 homes), double the minimum established by law, and the Town Hall led by Manuela Carmena has already announced that it will allocate the cession of use that corresponds to it to social housing. Moreover, a business centre spanning 1 million m2 is going to be built and Chamartín train station will be renovated, with the permission of Adif, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Development.

De la Serna explained that the documentation to begin the processing of the project was registered on Monday with a document that seeks to give the green light to this urban transformation, which means that in July, the initial approval will be received and the process will be completed by the end of the year (…).

Original story: El País (by Ramón Muñoz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Valdebebas, Castellana Norte & Mahou-Calderón Try to Inject New Life into Madrid

2 December 2017 – Expansión

After years of paralysis in the real estate sector, the reactivation of house sales has come at a time when there are hardly any new build homes available in Madrid.

According to calculations by the real estate consultancy CBRE, the municipality of Madrid and its surrounding areas have an absorption rate of around 20,000 homes per year and yet, the output for the region barely reaches 10,000 units.

In this context, yesterday, the Valdebebas Compensation Board, the last major development area in the north of Madrid, approved the economic “reparcelation” of the whole area, which will be the largest process in the history of Spain, with the aim of reactivating the granting of licences in an area where there is still land available for the development of 3,794 homes.

The aim of the economic “reparcelation” is to put an end to the urban planning problems associated with this development, which relate to the commercial area that was initially planned. “The problems date back to 2013, when modifications were made to the general plan, which included the construction of the largest shopping centre in Europe. The plan was modified to make the shopping centre smaller and to add more homes, most of which were social housing properties”, explain sources at the Valdebebas Compensation Board.

The new plan was legally appealed and in May, a ruling overturned the changes. “The legal ruling caused the Town Hall of Madrid to stop granting licences for the whole area. In light of that paralysis, the only option has been this economic “reparcelation” process (…), which will cost more than €5 million, which the Compensation Board will bear in its entirety”(…). “The “reparcelation” will allow the development of the last major PAU in the north of Madrid, given that in the others, such as in Las Tablas, Sanchinarro and Montecarmelo, there are barely any plots left (…).

The lack of supply has already had an impact on prices. “In two years, land prices in Valdebebas have doubled and, that is inevitably reflected in prices. Whilst before you could find a home for €2,400/m2, now you can’t find anything for less than €3,000/m2”.

Operación Mahou-Calderón

Operación Mahou-Calderón represents the last large plot of land in the central district (…). In total, it comprises 147,050 m2 of buildable land, where around 1,200 homes may be built (…) with prices of around €2,950/m2 (…).

Madrid Nuevo Norte

Operación Chamartín is reinventing itself (…). It has been paralysed for more than 20 years, but the new project includes a reduction in the buildable surface area, which will amount to 2.68 million m2, where 11,000 homes will be built, of which 20% will be social housing properties. With an investment of around €6 billion, construction work is expected to begin in 2019.

Berrocales, Valdecarros and Cerros

Meanwhile, the development of the southeast of Madrid has been put on the back burner. The Compensation Boards responsible for the three urban developments there (Los Berrocales, Valdecarros and Los Cerros), have joined forces in a common platform to promote the construction of more than 100,000 affordable homes over the next 25 years in the southeast of Madrid. Meanwhile, the Town Hall of Madrid is proposing a change to its urban development plans, with a maximum of 27,700 homes between now and 2030, to which another 26,000 may be added by 2039, depending on demand (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Land Shortage Causes House Prices to Soar in Madrid

5 November 2017 – El Mundo

House prices are on the rise in Madrid, due to the shortage of available buildable land and the high pent-up demand (the Spanish capital is capable of absorbing around 10,000 new homes per year and just as many second-hand homes). That was one of the main conclusions from the meeting organised last week by El Mundo in collaboration with Distrito Castellana Norte (DCN) to analyse the likely impact of the 11,000 new homes that are being planned as part of Madrid Nuevo Norte, the official name for the project more commonly known as Operación Chamartín.

According to Luis Corral, CEO of Foro Consultores, Madrid Nuevo Norte is an “absolutely essential project for that area of Madrid”, because both of the existing urban developments, namely, Valdebebas and Arroyo del Fresno, as well as the neighbouring municipalities, Alcobendas and San Sebastían de los Reyes “have run out of land”. In his opinion, “anything that places this part of Madrid on the market is a good thing, even if it causes price inflation, as seen in Valdebebas, where homes now cost more than €3,000/m2″.

Beyond its importance from a residential perspective, “Madrid Nuevo Norte also involves a major urban regeneration project, which offers a golden opportunity to position Madrid as one of the greatest capital cities in Europe”, according to Carolina Roca, Vice-President of the Association of Property Developers in Madrid (Asprima). In this sense, the final plans – which will probably be approved during the course of next year – include the construction of a large business centre, as well as a major refit of Chamartín station (which will house the future headquarters of Adif and Renfe).

Although this is an ambitious project from every perspective, “the area to the north of Madrid has capacity to absorb much higher figures than the 11,000 homes currently forecast”, says Samuel Población, Head of Residential and Land at the consultancy firm CBRE. “The absorption rate that we have seen in Valdebebas in just five years serves as an example”, he adds.

Moreover, the current rates of house building confirm that demand is continuing to grow right across the Community of Madrid. Based on the number of construction permits granted, the region is currently building 22,000 properties per year, a figure that contrasts with the 80,000 properties that are going to be built in Spain as a whole in 2017. According to Roca, “property development is performing well in Madrid, but the same dynamism is not being replicated across the country and so, we are still a long way off the 150,000 homes per year that need to be built”. That means that the region “has doubled its weight, something that is not positive because Madrid cannot cope with the real estate business of the whole of Spain”.

But the main problem, according to the head of the Madrilenian property developers, is that the municipal authorities are not responding to this increase in demand by offering new plots of land. “The available buildable land will have been used up in three or four years and no one is performing the repositioning that is necessary for after that period”. (…).

The main consequence of the shortage of raw material in the hands of property developers “is a significant rise in the prices of plots, which end up being passed on in the form of more expensive house prices”, explains Población (…).

In this context, Corral also stressed the need to promote new urban developments as “generators of homes for the most disadvantaged households, as shown by the more than 2,200 social housing units included in Madrid Nuevo Norte (…).

Original story: El Mundo (by Rubén G. López)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Operación Mesena: Santander & Metrovacesa Prepare to Fight the Residents

24 November 2017 – Voz Pópuli

BBVA and Operación Chamartín have some competition on their hands in the form of Operación Mesena. Banco Santander and Metrovacesa are working on two simultaneous real estate operations, which could completely change the neighbourhood of Hortaleza in Madrid, located in the northeast of the city. If the plans go ahead, the entities will star in one of the largest real estate development in the Spanish capital, alongside Chamartín and the Calderón.

The operation revolves around the former Ciudad Banesto and the adjoining plots of land (Colonia Banesto), which have been used as housing for employees and sports facilities for half a century. On the one hand, Metrovacesa – in which Santander holds a 70% stake and which is the owner of La Colonia – has launched a plan for all of the residents to leave their homes.

On the other hand, Santander is working to move the staff that it currently has working at Banesto’s former offices to Popular’s new headquarters. Once that plan has been fulfilled, the entities intend to reclassify the land from offices and sports facilities to urban use. The Town Hall of Manuela Carmena will play a key role. In the past, the Town Hall approved two operations by Banesto-Santander to build some houses and a development of luxury apartments.

Sources consulted at Metrovacesa and Santander note that the two projects are still up in the air and that they are independent of each other. Even so, they will happen at the same time and will be located next to each other. Moreover, the bank controls the real estate company, given that it holds 70% of the share capital, and BBVA also holds a stake, of almost 30%.

The operation has entered controversial territory given that the homes in the former Colonia Banesto are subsidised housing properties (VPO), which were granted to employees of the group who are now retired. Of the 160 families who originally resided there, just 39 remain. Most of them are retired and aged between 70 and 80 years.

In the last few days, those residents have received a letter from Metrovacesa Suelo y Promoción, notifying them of “the termination of their lease contracts and granting them a period, until 31 January 2018, to hand over their homes”, according to the letter to which this newspaper has had access.

The real estate company wants to negotiate with the residents who still live in Colonia Banesto one by one, to find them a suitable exit. The current tenants are not going to make it easy for the entities; they are now seeking advice through the Federation of Neighbourhood Associations and several law firms.

In this way, several dozen former employees of Banesto and mayor Carmena are preparing to deal with what could become one of the largest real estate fights since the outbreak of the crisis. After the planning phase, come the negotiations.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aena To Sell More Than 2,000 Ha Of Land Near Its Spanish Airports

15 November 2017 – Expansión

The state-owned group is going to sell more than 2,000 hectares of land around its airports for the construction of hotels, offices and shopping centres. The Ministry of Development is hereby launching a project that is seven times larger than Operación Chamartín.

(…) The Government has given the green light for Aena to launch what is going to be the largest ever operation involving the sale of land in Spain, according to authorised sources from the Ministry of Development speaking to El Mundo.

The new President of Aena, Jaime García-Legaz, has been given the mandate of optimising the value of the resources of the company, in which the Government holds a majority stake, and selling more than 2,000 hectares of land around the country’s main airports. Above all, the sale involves undeveloped, developable land, but it also includes some plots that are already occupied but which have a significant remaining surface area that may also be developed.

Aena’s studies, authorised by the Minister for Development, Íñigo de la Serna, involve the sale of land for the construction of hotels, offices and shopping centres, in line with those surrounding the main airports in Europe.

The land owned by Aena that has been identified as “potentially marketable” is equivalent to seven times the already gigantic Operación Chamartín, which encompasses 311 hectares to the north of Madrid and which is considered to be the largest urban development plan currently underway in the European Union.

Aena has been a major landowner since its constitution in 1990 and in its business plan, the plots of land surrounding the airports in Madrid and Barcelona are essential. Together, they are going to account for more than 50% of the total to be developed, according to preliminary estimates.

Around Adolfo Suárez Madrid Barajas airport, the studies have analysed a gross area of 921 hectares. Taking into account that some of the space will have to be allocated to roads and green areas, it is estimated that at least 573 hectares may be used as plots for lucrative use (…).

In Barcelona, the potentially marketable land comprises 336 hectares, of which 211 hectares would correspond to net lucrative plots. The rest of the real estate operation will focus on the airports in Tenerife Sur, Jerez and Sevilla, in particular.

The sources consulted highlight that the process will be undertaken in phases and that real estate experts will be hired to optimise the transactions, which will consist of the development, rental and sale of plots of land, depending on the option considered most attractive for Aena (…).

The share price of the public airport manager has now recovered to a level not seen since before the departure of the previous President, José Manuel Vargas. It closed yesterday at €159.40 per share, which is equivalent to a market capitalisation of more than €24,000 million. On the day that Vargas resigned, 26 September, each share was worth €151.

Original story: Expansión (by Carlos Segovia)

Translation: Carmel Drake

‘Operación Chamartín’ Becomes ‘Madrid, Nuevo Norte’

31 July 2017 – Expansión

A Solomonic agreement has been reached between DCN, the Ministry of Development, the Town Hall of Madrid and the Community of Madrid to push ahead with the long-standing project, which will see the construction of 11,000 homes (including 4,100 social housing properties) and a large business centre.

But its name is no longer ‘Operación Chamartín’, ‘Distrito Castellana Norte’ or ‘Madrid Puerta Norte’….after almost 25 years since the idea was first floated by the then government of Felipe González, the development in the northern zone of the belt of Madrid’s M30, is going to be called ‘Madrid, Nuevo Norte’.

On Thursday, the Town Hall of Madrid, Adif and DCN (the property developer in which BBVA and SanJosé hold stakes) presented the strategic guidelines upon which the new project is going to be based. It reduces the buildability to 2.68 million m2, down by 20.5% compared to the 3.37 million m2 proposed by DCN, and cuts the total number of homes to 11,000, of which 20% will be social housing properties. On the other hand, the management of the plan has been handed over to the Town Hall of Madrid, which will control the timings and activities.

The players involved announced the 19 points included as the basis of the agreement, most of which are technical, and which also involve resolving the legal actions. The new plan will see a modification to the General Urban Plan (PGOU) and is divided into five areas (Chamartín Station, Business Centre, Fuencarral Malmea, Fuencarral Tres Olivos and Las Tablas) and two large zones: the South of the M30, which will constitute primarily office space and a large CBD, and the North of the M30, which will focus on housing.

A large business centre for Madrid

One of the fundamental axes of the plan will be the Chamartín station and the Business Centre, which will be located next to the new station to allow for sustainable mobility. The event on Thursday was attended by the Minister for Development, Íñigo de la Serna; the mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena, and the President of the company Distrito Castellana Norte (DCN), Antonio Béjar. “This initiative has solid pillars and is sustainable over time. It is an avant-garde and recognisable project, which will generate investment and create employment”, said Antonio Béjar.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena, expressed her appreciation for the capacity for “dialogue and consensus” and asked for collaboration from the other political groups to move ahead with the project. “The world is changing. From now on, in Madrid, we are going to be capable of forming part of that change”. For the Minister for Development, Íñigo de la Serna, this is a new project, born out of an agreement that unites the interests of the parties (…).

In this way, the urban planning project, which just six months ago looked to be doomed to failure, seems to be back on track in the critical areas. The property developers said that Madrid does not currently have a recognisable and compact business district. This plan, they said, is designed to fill that gap.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo, L. Ruiz-Ocaña and C. Galera)

Translation: Carmel Drake

“Valdebebas Is Ready To Welcome Companies Post-Brexit”

27 June 2017 – Expansión

Valdebebas – one of the largest urban planning projects in the Community of Madrid, with a land surface area of 10.6 million m2 – has fired the starting gun for what is expected to become the city’s “new financial and technological district”.

“We have land spanning more than 1 million m2 (equivalent to the surface area of almost 140 football pitches) available for tertiary use. People talk about Castellana Norte, but there is no development in Spain quite like Valdebebas. It is already ready to welcome companies from London searching for new locations after Brexit and any other multi-national companies”, explains Marcos Sánchez, Managing Director of the Valdebebas Compensation Board, which represents the owners of the land. Market sources indicate that the land owners include Monthisa, Bisbel, Vivienda Económica, Celteo, Coindeco and Inmobiliaria Espacio.

This business park will comprise twenty blocks, with buildabilities ranging between 9,000 m2 and 110,000 m2. It will house buildings that have between five and fourteen storeys.

The director said that, although they have not yet started “to sell” Valdebebas as a destination for companies, international investors, funds and hotel chains have already expressed their interest in the development: “We are still in the preliminary conversation phases. Until now, contact has been made because interested parties have been approaching us”.

For Sánchez, the aim of Valdebebas is to attract fin-tech companies and others relating to that sector. Moreover, it has the capacity to accommodate between three and four hotels and restaurant brands. “We have direct access to the airport and are well connected to the city centre. It is an unbeatable location in Europe and the world”.

In this sense, it is worth remembering that a bridge is being constructed to connect this area with Barajas Airport – T4, with a forecast investment of more than €20 million. “We have already moved earth and started building the foundations on both sides. The work, which was started in February, is going well and will be finished within two years”, he said.

Valdebebas has several advantages over the potential Operación Chamartín: the immediacy – with “windows of opportunity that can be benefitted from now” – its size and location, according to Sánchez. “Castellana Norte is our natural competitor; despite that we want that site to be developed as soon as possible and in the best way possible because we will all end up winning as a result”, he said.

Legal journey

In terms of the legal position, Sánchez acknowledges that, although Valdebebas has always been very judicialised – construction of between 800 and 1,000 homes has been suspended following a ruling by the Supreme Court – almost 100% of the residential property has been sold, the population already stands at 10,000 people and is set to reach 18,000 by the end of the year. In his opinion, it is “perfectly feasible” to reach agreements before the urbanisation is completed. “All of this administrative and judicial chaos will end when the urbanisation is handed over in two years time”, he said.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake