Artificial Island near Valencia Planned

The World in Dubai is probably the most famous artificial island housing development on the planet. With Spain’s coastline being so heavily built up already, developer suggestions for an artificial island near the city of Valencia, just off Malvarrosa beach, suggest a way to meet demand for seafront property in future.

‘La Luna de Valencia’, as the island would be known, would cover 1.6 million square metres. Only a million square metres of that would be land, and the remainder would be canals and channels. Solar energy and desalination facilities will keep the island supplied with power and water. Property would include apartments and villas, with the smallest apartments measuring 40 square metres – enough for holiday use and costing from 300,000 Euros.

Spain’s 1988 Ley de Costas, which governs building around the coastline, expressly forbids the extension of land into the sea, which La Luna de Valencia would do. Given the Spanish Environment Ministry’s current crack down on land-based developments that breach the law, including the demolition of properties built too close to the sea, and concerns about the effect of global-warming-induced sea level rises, the developer is going to have an incredibly difficult time getting planning permission.