Casino tacked on later
A skyscraper hotel approved by the government of Málaga, Spain last year is facing fierce opposition from critics who say the 443-foot skyscraper would drastically alter the city’s skyline and clash with existing historic architecture.
According to the Olive Press, opponents have criticized both the structure’s “unsustainability” and its “visual and environmental impact.” The hotel is a project of the Qatar-based Al Bidda Group, which received permission last year to develop the Suites Malaga Port. It would be located on a jetty on the eastern side of Málaga, one of the oldest continuously operated ports in the Mediterranean.
The proposal was approved by city council last September, with a casino component announced a month later. The project also includes a reported 352 hotel rooms, a spa, a luxury retail district, a conference facility and swimming pools.
The municipal group Málaga para la Gente (Malaga for the People) has asked for “serious and rigorous studies” of the project and a “truthful and credible” financial and economic study by the Port Authority with public participation and debate.
If the project proceeds, the new hotel will create an estimated 1,300 construction jobs, with 350 additional jobs when it opens in 2020, reported GamingToday.com.
