Heavy machinery removed from former Nerja quarry after almost 30 years

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The removal work, being carried out by Materiales de Construcción Orlando S.L., marks a milestone in the environmental restoration of the Colmenarejos site located in the Sierras Tejeda, Almijara y Alhama natural park

Eugenio Cabezas

Monday, 27 April 2026, 18:33

The heavy machinery that had been left since 1999 on the site of the former Barranco de Los Colmenarejos quarry in Nerja on the eastern Costa del Sol, finally started to be removed during the week of 20 April. The removal, being carried out by Materiales de Construcción Orlando S.L., marked a milestone on the environmental restoration of this site located in the Sierras Tejeda, Almijara y Alhama natural park.

According to Nerja's councillor for the environment, Javier Rodríguez, work commenced following the completion of preliminary site preparation work, which began last November, enabling the project to get underway. “Once this work is complete, the company will proceed to remove the accumulated rubble and waste, as well as carry out earthworks aimed at regenerating the land,” the councillor stated in a press release.

In this first phase, the project involves the removal of disused machinery which has been left abandoned at the former quarry since 1999 and has often been a target for vandalism and theft. The town hall explained in a statement that the work forms part of a restoration plan, submitted by the company to the Andalusian regional government in 2020, following years of unanswered requests from the town hall.

The plan was finally approved following a coordination process between the company, the regional government and the town hall, which has helped to break the deadlock in a situation that had been going on for more than two decades. Rodríguez indicated that the work could be completed within approximately three months, provided the planned pace is maintained.

This step comes just six months after work began to restore the quarry, a mining site closed by the town hall in 2000 which has since been the subject of a long-running administrative and legal dispute. For years, the company sought to resume operations, although the courts upheld the council’s decision to keep it closed.

Natural park designation

The case of the Colmenarejos quarry is closely linked to the designation of the Sierras Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama natural park in 1999, a regulatory change that determined the future of the site. Since then, the process leading to its permanent closure has been marked by administrative complexity and the involvement of various authorities.

This site is not the only incident relating to the management of former quarries in the municipality. The Río de la Miel quarry, used for years as an unauthorised tip, led to legal proceedings involving the mayor of Nerja, José Alberto Armijo (PP), councillor Nieves Atencia and several business leaders, all of whom were eventually acquitted.

Business leader Orlando Rodríguez has told SUR that the restoration work on the old quarry will cost him over 50,000 euros, which he has had to pay out of his own pocket, 27 years after he was ordered to close and seal off the mining site. “We started in 1984 and carried on until 1999 when they sealed us off. It has been many years of struggle, but we were unable to continue working, unlike other companies in Canillas de Albaida and Cómpeta, where there are two active quarries within the natural park,” he said.

“The bank guarantee alone cost over 20,000 euros, then another 10,000 was paid in fines and now the restoration which costs another 50,000, and from selling the machinery for scrap I’ll barely get 20,000 euros,” said Rodríguez, who nevertheless says he is “satisfied” to be leaving the area clean.