This is what the new leisure park on former landfill site in Torremolinos will be like

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The project, which is now under way, plans to totally transform the 50,000 square metre location with paths, children's play areas, calisthenics, a skating rink and cultural centre

José Rodríguez Cámara

Torremolinos

Monday, 29 December 2025, 12:35

There are only a few key details so far, but the information already released by Torremolinos town hall about the peri-urban park - which aims to return to the public a piece of land that had been devastated by the operation of an illegal landfill - gives an idea of the project’s characteristics.

The context is important for the development of this idea: the land chosen for the recreation site was for 21 years, between 1990 and 2011, a rubbish dump that, without a permit, held 1.6 million cubic metres of waste of all kinds.

In the words of Ramón Fernández-Pacheco in 2023, the regional government's environment minister, in order to recover the plot, "a real administrative tangle" had to be untangled.

We have to go back to 2006, when the PSOE-led Andalusian authority, following a complaint from the Guardia Civil's nature protection service (Seprona), opened a disciplinary case after finding that the landfill had no administrative authorisation, lacked an environmental impact study and entailed a risk of the contamination of underground aquifers.

7 Million

The corrective works to put an end to this black spot began in 2023, on an area of 52,300 square metres. It was necessary to transfer 684,000 cubic metres of waste to a new area and 75,536 shrubs were planted.

Faced with the refusal of the then mayor, Pedro Fernández Montes, a litigation process began that lasted more than five years and did not end until the administrative court number 1 of Malaga ordered the closure of the facilities. However, the appropriate environmental measures were not included. Finally, the corrective works to put an end to this black spot began in 2023, with a budget of around seven million, on a surface area of 52,300 square metres. It was necessary to transfer 684,000 cubic metres of waste to a new area and 75,536 shrubs were planted in the area to help contribute to its decontamination.

All these phases had already been completed last summer. In August, the mayor, Margarita del Cid, took to her social media with a message that indicated that the intention of the council was to take advantage of the opportunities that arose in this new space: "What only three years ago was a landfill and an old quarry today is a space that will soon be enjoyed by all."

The head of the municipality, during a review of her four years in office, took the opportunity to go a little further and specify that the proposal for the transformation of the area includes a peri-urban park.

Although still at an embryonic stage, the maps and details with which the local administration has supported this announcement helps to clarify the concept of a facility that is already being developed.

Sixteen zones

It will be divided into 16 zones, according to the draft project, which will create pedestrian routes and roads, as well as car parks.

It will have several key focal points, such as a panoramic viewpoint designed to highlight the site’s values for visitors; as well as facilities including a skating rink and children’s play areas. Picnicking will also be possible and, at least on paper, there will be a dog park with an agility course. Likewise, people will be able to exercise, with equipment for muscle strengthening and joint mobility, combined with calisthenics.

Skateboarding and other forms of roller sports will have a facility in the future periurban park, and a multifunctional building is planned to house cultural and recreational activities and exhibitions. The mayor also said that the park would have an auditorium, designed for large events.