The Green Lungs of Alicante Envisioned in the New PGOU

Alicante is a city open to the sea, with 22 kilometres of coastline stretching from south to north. This free space is the true gem, from the beaches to the harbour promenades or La Cantera. But that's not all; natural spaces such as the Serra Grossa by the sea, Mount Benacantil, or the Fontcalent mountain range, among others, are part of a natural Alicante that is the city's heritage.

These large green lungs provide air and allow Alicante's residents to stroll, symbolising quality of life. However, they are not enough. Currently, the city of Alicante has 9.5 square metres of green space per inhabitant, but excluding the mountains within the city (Grossa, Benacantil, and Tossal), the area drops to 8.4 square metres. The World Health Organization standard is 9, meaning Alicante still has a deficit of green areas that the new General Structural Plan aims to correct.

Alicante has seven urban parks with more than 100 hectares, some quite recent, like Sergio Melgares and Plaza Juan Pablo II. However, Alicante maintains a rather scattered configuration of its green areas. They are lacking in the centre and the expansions, deficits that the future Central Park will somewhat alleviate, stretching from the new Intermodal Station to almost Rabasa thanks to the land freed by the track burial.

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But the plan is to increase these green spaces in the new development areas contemplated in the General Plan. Renaturalising Alicante through the connection of open spaces, such as the coastline, with other elements like ravines and the recovery of other spaces that have been abandoned or lost. These are the new parks, areas, and green lungs that are intended to be created in Alicante.

From Urbanova to San Juan Beach and from there connected to El Campello. The future of Alicante is closely linked to the Mediterranean Sea, and the grand project is to achieve the longest coastal promenade in all of Europe. Almost 30 kilometres to weave the green and blue of the city into a milestone that will change it forever.

Some of these sections are already underway, like the new green over the sea of La Cantera. Others, like the transformation of La Almadraba beach into a park the size of three Santiago Bernabéu stadiums, are being executed through a dozen consecutive projects.

To the south, the execution of the Torrellano Bypass, which will remove the coastal tracks, is pending. The General Structural Plan considers it not as an option or possibility, but with the projection that it will be removed.

In this space, the first section of the future Litoral Way from Urbanova to San Gabriel will be created, as projected in the Agua Amarga Landscape Program and the ideas competition convened.

The intention is to declare the Agua Amarga Saladar as a Municipal Natural Site and create new parking areas to free the current road from cars. The Agua Amarga beach, between Urbanova and the Colmenar mountain range, will have a parking lot at the entrance of the saladar. The land freed by the removal of the tracks will be a promenade connecting the south of Alicante.

This space is the continuation of the new neighbourhood of Alicante in La Albufereta with more than 1,000 homes, whose construction is expected to start in 2026. It will be located between Denia Avenue, the Lloixa ravine, Santa Faz, and Locutor Vicente Hipólito Avenue.

These are the lands of the old orchard of Alicante, roughly between the CEU and the San Juan Hospital. Many of the 11 Towers of the Orchard from the 16th century that remain today in Alicante are located here. The City Council is processing the Special Plan for the Towers of the Orchard to provide them with protection (they already have BIC status), which must be integrated into the General Plan.

Ampliar

Ampliar

The municipal intention is to preserve this natural space, even to recover it as agricultural land, which was its original activity. One of the initiatives is to create a land bank to make it available to those who want to exploit it agriculturally.

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It is one of the most important projects of the General Structural Plan, although the City Council has been implementing it for months. The temporary release of the AP-7 in the Alicante bypass is nothing but a test of how much traffic will be diverted on the A-7 to reduce circulation in the urban area of Alicante and "humanise" the bypass "with street treatment" to turn it into an urban boulevard with green areas.

This boulevard goes beyond the initial news. It would be an "ecological corridor north of Alicante" from the Vallonga hills to the aforementioned Agricultural Park Huerta de Alicante La Condomina (on Denia Avenue, next to the La Alcoyana garages and the Once School).

In its northern area, the Structural Plan aims to regenerate the industrial estates of Las Atalayas and Pla de la Vallonga to "resolve the connection of the corridor at the meeting of the Rabasa industrial estate with San Vicente" del Raspeig. This industrial space, where the Christmas fair and concerts are now held, could be transformed "with residential uses," according to the preliminary studies of the General Plan.