The mayor has noted that during 2024 important infrastructure and projects have come into operation such as the Contemporary Cultures Library, the Music Conservatoire, the climbing wall, the Castillo de San Luis, avenida España and calle Terraza.

The Town Council has been carrying out other works of interest this year such as the car park located around the Iglesia del Carmen, new stretches of coastal corridor and the Gran Bulevar.

The mayor of Estepona, José María García Urbano, today gave a review of municipal management in 2024 and said that this year will be remembered for the delivery of important public facilities for the town. In that regard, he said that for the last few months Estepona has had a series of new projects that reinforce it even more as a modern, sustainable municipality interested in bringing culture and knowledge closer to people.

García Urbano said that during 2024 the Mirador del Carmen has been fully equipped, so that today citizens can enjoy a unique cultural complex in the Mediterranean that brings together spaces as interesting as a top-level exhibition hall, a music conservatoire, an imposing eight-floor library, an auditorium, catering venues and a viewpoint with panoramic and impressive views of Estepona and its surroundings.

In this respect, the mayor commented that one of the town’s main historic demands, the conservatoire, has now been met with the start of formal tuition for clarinet, guitar, piano and saxophone. To this must be added the recent opening of the Contemporary Cultures Library, an ambitious cultural project where users can consult collections, study, make podcasts or take part in coworking projects, among other things. “This library is destined to become a cultural icon in the province because of its ambitions for outreach, for encouraging reading and thought in children, young people and adults, and for its flexibility of uses”, García Urbano noted.

In his opinion, the third cultural milestone of the year was the recent opening to the public of the Castillo de San Luis, a fortress built in the 16th century that had remained hidden from the public for almost 100 years. After more than a decade of expropriation work, administrative procedures and dealings with the bodies responsible for heritage, Estepona has been able to recover this historic jewel as an exhibition space in the heart of the old town.

On the other hand, the first councillor said that 2024 has also been important for the great strides made in urban sustainability. In that regard, he stressed that the completion of the pedestrianisation of avenida España and the comprehensive remodelling of calle Terraza have meant that citizens have recovered public spaces to enjoy and that Estepona has become an example of sustainability and of compliance with the European directives urging that the town centres of municipalities be free of pollution.

In sport, Estepona Town Council has also made new progress such as the launch of the climbing wall located in the Fairground and Sports Park. This facility, the largest of its kind outdoors in Spain, has allowed our town to make a grand entrance onto the country’s climbing circuit. As well as being an attraction for elite athletes and teams who practise this discipline, the climbing wall is encouraging the number of climbing enthusiasts to grow month after month.

Continuing with projects linked to sport and healthy lifestyle habits, the Town Council has advanced this year on the coastal corridor initiative. The opening of new stretches will make it possible for the path to be completed in its entirety during 2025.

As has been happening since 2011, another of the achievements this year has again been the reduction of the inherited debt of more than 300 million euros. After more than a decade of effort and a firm commitment to putting the municipal accounts in order, Estepona Town Council will end this year with a debt of 24 million euros. In this way, the mayor has said that this objective will continue to be a priority during 2025, to the point that the forecast for the first half of next year is for the inherited debt to be reduced to less than 10 million euros.

Finally, the mayor said that this year the Town Council has once again shown its commitment to the most vulnerable people in the town, attending to those who require it.