Controversial £286m Gibraltar coastal project takes major step as waters made ‘off limits’ | World | News

A controversial £286m land reclamation project on Gibraltar’s coastline has taken a major step forward.

The Gibraltar Port Authority (GPA) has established a maritime exclusion zone around the Eastside project which will see a marina with space for 600 moorings, a hotel, around 1,300 residential homes and a business park.

There are now four special yellow-flash marker buoys surrounding two silt curtains in place, effectively blocking all maritime traffic from the development site.

The GPA has warned that these barriers pose a significant navigational hazard and a strict warning has been issued to boat owners, paddleboarders and kayakers to steer clear of the marked area.

Philip Mandleberg, of the GPA, said: “The exclusion zone is strictly off-limits to anyone not directly involved in the works.”

The zone is expected to remain in place throughout critical phases of the reclamation project.

The Eastside project, which has been a source of significant tension with Spain, aims to create approximately 27.5 hectares of new land by extending Gibraltar’s eastern shoreline.

The project, estimated to cost around 340 million euros (£286 million), is located between the Hassan Centenary Terrace towers to the north and Eastern beach to the south. It is scheduled for completion in 2026.

It is part of Gibraltar’s strategic infrastructure expansion and is forecast to contribute nearly £2.5 billion towards the territory’s GDP.

However, it has drawn criticism from environmental groups concerned about potential marine ecosystem disruption and from Spanish authorities who claim the development is “an invasion of our sovereign waters”.

The construction involves extensive dredging and land reclamation, activities known to disrupt marine habitats and water quality.

According to reports, some 61,711 metric tons of stone and rubble have been tipped into the sea to create the foundations of the new 1.7-square-mile development.

The Gibraltar government told the Olive Press last month that “all reclamation projects done by Gibraltar in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters comply with all international and EU rules”.

The government branded Spanish complaints about the new marina development and their claims to the territorial waters around the Rock as “legal and political nonsense”.

It has also been met with extensive complaints by environmental advocates, as the project is being carried out in the Eastern Strait Special Conservation Zone (ZEC), an ecological zone that is home to protected species.

It directly threatens a type of limpet, the Patela ferruginia – which has the same protection as the Iberian lynx – that is only known to grow in the area.

There are also concerns that the creation of a breakwater on Gibraltar’s east side could have knock-on effects down the Spanish coastline, causing a loss of sand on the beaches of La Linea and San Roque and potentially affecting fishing and tourism.