By Emma Randle
A new shopping centre and residential development planned next to Torrecárdenas hospital in Almería city centre has been blocked by the courts.
The regional high court ruled that the proposed €150m-development “violated regional planning laws”, blowing Almería city council’s plans to create 3,000 new jobs, new housing and better shopping facilities out of the water.
The development was a landmark project for the Partido Popular-run council, with former mayor Luis Rogelio Rodríguez Comendador even laying the first stone of the commercial centre last October, despite the pending court case.
