Marbella Marina Project

26th May 2014

The Andalucian Public Ports Agency (APPA) has announced that it will demand plans for the enlargement of La Bajadilla Port in Marbella before the summer.



The project, which is due to be carried out by the company created by Qatari Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al-Thani, is now two and a half years behind schedule.

The contract was awarded to the Temporary Union of Businesses of which Marbella City Hall is also a shareholder.

The company reportedly asked engineering companies several months ago for offers for the project, but the APPA has not been informed of anything further, and will give the company until the summer to come up with the plans.

The APPA has already fined the company €50,000 and had initiated proceedings which could have led to them losing the contract.

The Mayor of Marbella, Angeles Muñoz, has said that she hopes that the plans will be received soon and that work will start this year.

UPDATE: Puerto Al-Thani - Marbella - Delays of 17 months so far

(January 08th, 2014 17:27) The saga continues of the delayed port plans as Qatari Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasir Al Thani has once more failed to reply to the demands from the Junta de Andalucia....Full Story

A new consortium (UTE) including Nasir Bin Abdullah & Sons, Puerto Deportivo and Marbella Town Hall will transform Marbella's Puerto La Bajadilla into a new, luxury marina with an initial investment of 84m Euros.

Marbella officials have announced that the owner of Málaga Football Club, Abdullah Ben Nasser Al-Thani, will redevelop the current fishing port breathing new life into Marbella.

Artists impression of Puerto Al-Thani

Marbella's port (bottom right) is currently known as "Puerto de Bajadilla" and is already a very popular destination for both tourists and residents. This is in part because of the diverse selection of restaurants and shops in the area.

Puerto Banus, 15 minutes down the road from Marbella, currently holds the label as the most exclusive area around Marbella but the new plans hope to shift that label to Marbella. Many millions of tousists flock to Puerto Banus year after year hoping to see a celebrity, to visit designer shops or simply to admire the enourmous private yachts moored there.

Puerto de la Bajadilla, close to the center of Marbella, is surrounded by hotels and residential buildings and flanked by some of the best beaches on the Costa del Sol making it a popular holiday destination. During the first 10 months of 2011 Andalucia received 7.2 milllion visitors, compared to a yearly total of 5.8m for 2010 (Source: Instituto de Estudios Turísticos), and it is hoped that the new marina will attract more of those tourists to the area.

The project is being referred to as one of the most important urban developments in Marbella's history and will bring multiple benefits to the town. Besides the obvious benefits from increased tourism it is thought that the completed marina will provide 1,500 direct jobs for the town of Marbella. A further 3,000 indirect jobs will also be created - great news for an area dependent on tourism.

Spanish architect José Seguí has been chosen by the UTE to create the plans, including the 3D fly-through.

The Plans

Currently the exact plans of the redevelopment are sketchy. Some details publicly released include:
•The construction of a spectacular exterior d**e formed in a circle of 911m and surrounding the whole area of the current port.
•The harbor's capacity will be increased to 1,220 sport crafts of between 6 and 125 meters in length.
•Cruise liners of up to 170 meters will also now be catered for allowing passengers to disembark to spend time, and money, in the port. This will be possible thanks to an increase in depth at the port.
•A new commercial area and a five star hotel will confirm Marbella as one of the most exclusive tourist spots in the world.