The community had approved by a large majority allowing the Town Hall to paint a mural on the side wall of the block, after residents were informed of the project in April 2025. The imminent construction on the plots currently used as parking now puts an end to both expectations: that of having a new look for the building and that of continuing to have these parking spaces available.
Residents in general, and those of the Sabinillas Playa building in particular, are looking with sadness at the new signs installed this Tuesday and Wednesday on the open space that has long been used as a car park in the very heart of Sabinillas, owing to the shortage of parking in the area, which is currently unbearable.
The arrival of these signs confirms that the land, currently used as a de facto car park, has a very different future and that the property developments planned for the area will soon begin.
But for the owners of Sabinillas Playa the situation has another side. According to them, the planned construction on these plots also means the end of a project they had welcomed with enthusiasm: the creation of a spectacular mural on the side façade of the building.
A project that residents were asked to put to a vote
Manilva Town Hall contacted the residents last April to inform them of its intention to carry out an artistic intervention on the side wall of block 4 of Sabinillas Playa.
The proposal needed the community’s authorisation, so the owners took the matter to their meetings and to the corresponding voting process.
The community’s documents record that the Ordinary General Meeting was held on 15 July 2025 and that a supplementary record was subsequently drawn up to document the final result once the period established for absent owners had elapsed. In the end, the proposal to authorise the Town Hall to paint “a mural on the side wall of block 4” was approved with 120 votes in favour, 12 against and 2 abstentions, giving the Town Hall the go-ahead to carry out a project that, according to residents of the community, had been received mostly positively.
Now, that mural will not become a reality.
The construction of the new buildings will completely change the surroundings of this side façade. What until now was an open space used by many residents to park their vehicles will give way to new residential developments, and it is precisely this circumstance that has also prompted numerous complaints from residents and businesses in the area.
Our news outlet has reported on its social media channels that the Madrid-based estate agency Madis Realty has put up signs on the three plots currently used as public parking, announcing the forthcoming development of this land, and people agree in the comments: what will we do without these parking areas, and with more residents in the area who will, naturally, bring more vehicles?
The first development announced involves building 20 homes, divided into 18 flats and 2 penthouses, with prices that, according to the advertised information, start at 292,500 euros plus VAT for a one-bedroom home of 42.22 square metres, without a garage, and go up to 444,000 euros plus VAT for homes of 65.32 usable square metres with a garage space included.
The news has sparked considerable debate on social media, especially because of an issue that has long worried those who live in the centre of Sabinillas: the lack of parking and the shortage of infrastructure able to cope with a larger population.
“More homes, but less room to park”
Residents see an area that currently helps ease, at least partially, the parking problems disappearing to make way for new buildings.
The concern is not limited to the loss of these spaces. Many residents are asking what solutions will be put on the table when work begins on the plots and the vehicles that currently park there have to look for alternatives in streets where it is already hard to find parking at certain times of day.
For the owners of Sabinillas Playa there is also a sense of “wasted time”
After the community discussed the proposal and formally approved the mural, the project appeared to have the necessary backing to transform the look of one of the building’s façades.
Perhaps the initial forecasts did not envisage that construction on these plots could begin so soon. As a result, the residents of Sabinillas Playa now see that they will lose not only a parking area that is essential for the neighbourhood, but also the chance to enjoy a completely renovated façade thanks to the mural, on which time was spent by the artist designing it, by the Town Hall planning it and by the residents who had to put the matter to the owners for approval.
A triple waste of time that has left a particularly bitter taste among those who, after reaching the necessary consensus within the community, were hoping to see that side wall become a new face for the building and, possibly, for one of the busiest areas of Sabinillas too.
