Coin residents campaign to protect Malaga aquifer from solar farms and adventure park plans

Residents of Coin in Malaga province have built a broad grassroots movement to defend public lands that overlie their main aquifer. The effort targets two major development proposals that campaigners say endanger water supplies for the town and nearby areas in the Guadalhorce Valley, especially with regards to the final ownership and control of the water supply.

Solar farms planned across prime cereal lands

Seven photovoltaic plants grouped in four clusters could generate up to 560 MW on more than 1,000 hectares near the Sierra de las Nieves natural park. Promoters Natera Solar and Orla Solar, linked to investment funds Admiralty Management and Q-Energy, seek to cover roughly 1,300 hectares of dry farmland in Coin alone. The projects would also require a shared substation and a 25 km evacuation line to Cartama. But this is not mere nimbyism: this is about who owns the land that houses the water.

The developments would affect six areas: Alora, Alozaina, Cartama, Casarabonela, Coin and Pizarra. Perimeter fencing alone would stretch 80 km. Marisa Casal of the Asociacion Valle Natural de Rio Grande and the Plataforma Macro Renovables No network said the schemes threaten both energy sovereignty and food sovereignty. She said that impact studies predict a local temperature rise of 5°C and changes to the biosphere close to the unregulated Rio Grande, one of the few Malaga rivers with permanent flows that support essential flora and fauna.

Local farmer Huiquin Dong Lin, known as Maggie, said the land exists for cultivation, not solar arrays. Casal added that cultivated fields help offset emissions, whereas the funds behind the projects appear focused on creating a bubble to draw Next Generation EU money. The association maps between 600 and 1,000 large photovoltaic schemes across Andalucia and calls instead for council energy communities and rooftop self-consumption. Andalucia currently has only five such communities.

The adventure park proposal sits on an aquifer recharge zone

A separate 267 million euro scheme called Transcendence, promoted by Nature Call Initiatives and Grupo ARD Investment & Development, targets Los Llanos de Matagallar in Coin. The site forms the principal recharge area for the Sierra Blanca aquifer that supplies Coin’s 25,000 residents and surrounding farms. The project, declared a strategic investment by the Junta de Andalucia in July 2023, includes an artificial wave pool for surfing, two golf courses, adventure activities and additional solar plus biogas installations.

Maria Jose Romero of the Plataforma Ciudadana Mesa del Agua de Coin warned that construction risks contaminating the aquifer. She said the scheme offers no concrete measures to prevent leaks or protect groundwater despite claims of water-efficient design through storm-water basins. The promoters describe the plan as high-quality inland tourism and ecotourism, yet it would occupy land long used for agriculture in an area known as the pantry of Malaga.

Accusations of missing studies and skipped consultations

Campaigners from both platforms accuse authorities of selling or reclassifying public land without publishing full environmental impact assessments or legal acquisition documents. They say compulsory public consultations never took place. Fears continue of forced expropriations of smallholdings through offers that mask compulsory purchase at set prices. Casal noted rising cereal prices together with growing imports while farmland disappears under panels or park infrastructure.

Regional authorities seek breathing space on renewables

More than 100 photovoltaic projects are under consideration across Malaga province, which receives over 3,000 sunshine hours annually. The Diputacion de Malaga approved a unanimous motion calling for a moratorium on new large schemes where local councils request one. Several mayors, including Antonio Perez of Alozaina, have signed joint letters expressing concern for agriculture, inland tourism and landscape quality. Alora town hall recently imposed a one-year ban on photovoltaic parks.

Earlier resistance stopped a proposed dam on the Rio Grande more than 15 years ago under the slogan “Rio Grande Vivo, No a los tubos”. Campaigners say similar vigilance is required now because rivers play a central role in aquifer recharge, ecosystem links and local identity in a region already under drought decrees.

Demands focus on protection and decentralised energy

The Mesa del Agua and Valle Natural de Rio Grande are calling on the Junta de Andalucia to prioritise aquifer safeguards and reject fast-track approvals that bypass rigorous environmental checks. They advocate energy communities in every area, placement of renewables on already altered urban or industrial sites, and genuine public participation in territorial energy planning.

Petitions have reached the European Parliament and Commission, which referred the aquifer issue back to national authorities.

Coin’s campaign forms part of wider networks across Malaga that reject the idea of rural areas becoming sacrifice zones. Participants stress that water remains essential and scarce in the Guadalhorce Valley. They continue administrative and legal actions while pressing for a model that keeps farmland productive, maintains biodiversity and supplies clean water to current and future residents.