British holidaymakers locked in Spanish council row over 'epic monstrosity'

The Gran Alicante development was originally designed in the 1980s as a speculative holiday home scheme, with all plots sold except for a parcel at the cliff's highest point designated for a hotel.

Homeowners say they were told this hotel would never be built.

Now they allege the council has caught them off guard by permitting construction of what they believe is a large apartment-hotel on the site, offering self-catering accommodation with hotel amenities.

Dave Marshall, who has owned his cliffside home for a quarter of a century, described the shock of arriving to find heavy machinery directly behind his patio.

"One day we turned up and there's an earth mover outside the back of the patio. Its decimated the back of lovely green land its now piles of rubble," Mr Marshall told the Daily Mail.

"I'm looking at the start of a construction site."

The construction work has been unrelenting, disturbing residents throughout the night and causing their homes to shake.

Mr Marshall explained his once sweeping vistas of the sea and mountains could soon be replaced by neighbours peering onto his terrace.

The property has been a cherished family retreat for 25 years, where his children grew up, but he now faces the prospect of selling if the development proceeds.

Homeowners have accused the local authority of attempting to circumvent planning rules, alleging that an apartment block is being constructed under the pretence of hotel development to satisfy original permissions.

"The monstrosity that they're proposing is flats, its got a planning consent for what was a hotel. This is just overdevelopment on an epic scale," Mr Marshall said.

Archie Madden, who purchased his holiday property in 2019, uncovered what he considers damning evidence within the planning application documents.

"One of the things we discovered about this hotel is, it claimed to be a four-star hotel with 98 rooms, which would be far too expensive to run," Mr Madden said.

"We found buried away in the planning application papers there's a requisition for 98 cookers, 98 extractor fans, 98 fitted kitchens. These are all self-contained apartments."

The residents say they were given just 10 days to lodge a formal objection after learning of the development plans.

They have since taken their case to the public prosecutor's office in the city, arguing no valid planning permission exists for the project.

Heavy machinery arrived on site at the end of August, with work running from six in the morning until seven in the evening.

"From six in the morning they are hammering and using pneumatic drills until seven at night," Mr Madden said.

"It's louder inside the houses than out because it comes up in the structure of the houses."

Mr Madden believes the council is fearful of legal or financial repercussions from blocking the developer.

"Our view is the council are not being fair with us, they have been misleading," he said.

GB News has approcahed Santa Pola council for comment.

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