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Judicial halt at Montegancedo delays Pozuelo’s new green neighbourhood
The Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Madrid has kept construction work at Montegancedo on hold. Protection of the 69-hectare pine and holm oak forest remains in place. Pozuelo is awaiting a decision that would allow the project to move forward.
The decision of the High Court of Justice of Madrid once again leaves the transformation of Montegancedo on hold, one of the major urban development operations planned in Pozuelo de Alarcón. The development of more than a thousand high-end homes, which promised to change the life and landscape of the area, will have to keep waiting. The court has rejected the appeal lodged by the City Council and the developers, which sought to reactivate the urbanisation works in a 69-hectare area of pine and holm oak woodland.
The suspension, which had already been in force since last July, responds to the lack of a clear environmental assessment of the project’s real impact. The Federación de Ecologistas en Acción had requested precautionary measures to prevent the disappearance of this green lung, and the courts have given priority to ecological protection over the economic interests of the landowners.
The ruling stresses that, if the works were allowed to proceed before a final judgment, the damage to the environment would be irreversible. Neither the financial guarantee proposed by the developers nor the arguments of the local authority have been sufficient to lift the suspension. In addition, the court has ordered the three entities that appealed to pay the costs of the proceedings.
Pozuelo City Council says it is considering appealing the judgment, although it is confident that the situation will be resolved soon and favourably for the municipality. A new hearing is scheduled for 26 February, which could clarify the future of Montegancedo and, with it, the pace of the city’s growth.
Montegancedo is one of the last large areas of natural land in the west of Madrid. Its pine and holm oak woodland, little visited but highly valued by those seeking open air near the capital, has resisted development pressure for years. The debate over its future reflects the tension between the need for housing and the protection of green spaces, an issue increasingly present on the urban agenda of Madrid and its metropolitan area.