Marbella plans planning changes to let shops add space and ease the way for large retail stores
Marbella town hall is amending its 1986 planning rules so shops can use basements and mezzanines without using up building allowance, and large stores could open in any commercial zone, Diario Sur reported.
By Costa del Sol Journal Newsroom · · AI-assisted
Marbella's ayuntamiento (town hall) is processing changes to its planning rules that would let shops gain floor space and make it easier for large retail stores to open, Diario Sur reported on 8 November.
According to the newspaper, the changes amend the Normas Urbanísticas (planning rules) of the 1986 Plan General de Ordenación Urbana (PGOU), the city's general urban plan. They cover land classed as industrial (IND) and as commercial and office use (CO). The stated aim, per Diario Sur, is to let businesses expand without increasing the outer volume of buildings or using up their permitted building allowance (edificabilidad).
Basements and mezzanines
Diario Sur said the current rules allow a business to extend into the first basement, but that space counts for 50 per cent towards the total building allowance. Under the proposed changes to articles 143.4, 183 and 183.bis, first-basement use would no longer be counted in full. The newspaper described this as a chance to gain display, storage or customer space at no cost to building allowance.
The rules currently allow a mezzanine (entreplanta) linked to a shop, covering up to 60 per cent of the ground-floor area. Article 143.5 would raise that limit to 75 per cent, and, as with basements, that space would not count towards the building allowance used.
Large stores
The reform also creates a new category of "Gran Superficie Minorista" (large retail store) with a new sub-zone, CO.5. Diario Sur reported that large stores could then be set up in any sub-zone classed as commercial (CO) across the municipality.
Developers would first have to submit a justification showing that the project is viable in terms of traffic, building heights and protection of the urban surroundings, under changes to articles 256 and 257.5.
The town hall is also changing article 257.5 so commercial projects could add one extra floor, exceeding the maximum height limit by one metre. To qualify, the new top floor would have to open onto a double-height space covering at least 30 per cent of the level below.
What happens next
Diario Sur said the changes will later be carried over into the Plan de Ordenación Urbana (POU), which will definitively replace the 1986 PGOU. The article gave no timetable for approval or for the POU. The town hall says the aim is to retain business investment, revitalise commercial areas and modernise the city, and, according to the report, to keep services closer to residents and reduce travel needs and pollution.
The measures are still being processed, so the details could change. Anyone affected can check the official text through Marbella town hall.
