Escaldes‑Engordany park closed as owners restart 2018‑approved tower projects

The park and the adjoining public car park on Avinguda de les Nacions Unides in central Escaldes‑Engordany were closed on 1 December after the private owners of block 6 (illa 6) of the Clot d’Emprivat rescinded their lease with the parish. The move cleared the site and allowed work to begin on three private tower projects whose permits were lodged under the parish’s 2018 territorial plan (POUP) before a construction moratorium came into effect on 1 January 2024.

The parish has surrounded the fenced site with explanatory banners and comparative panels that emphasise the projects were authorised under the 2018 POUP, which allowed buildings of up to 20 storeys. Panels presented by the administration show that mandatory open space within the block would increase under the parish’s 2023 amendment—from roughly 15% under the 2018 rules to about 57%—and that ground occupation would fall from an estimated 85% to about 43%.

Cònsol major Rosa Gili and other members of the governing majority say the administration lacked legal grounds to stop owners from exercising development rights granted by the 2018 POUP and warn that attempts to block construction would expose the parish to lengthy litigation and likely compensation claims. The parish notes some owners have already brought legal challenges over the 2023 modification to the Batllia (administrative court). Officials add they have negotiated adjustments with promoters and sought to “minimise the impact” of inherited projects.

As part of agreements with developers, the parish says it has acquired an entire underground parking level within the future complex—a communal floor of 132 spaces bought, the administration says, at favourable terms to guarantee public parking in the town centre. The parish also says completed developments will include substantial open areas and that street‑level playgrounds will be reinstated in coordination with the promoters.

Local residents and civic groups have expressed disquiet over the immediate loss of a central public space. The fenced playground and sandpit now stand empty and families have staged protests at the closure. The parish acknowledges the disruption and is rolling out planned compensatory measures to offset the temporary loss of facilities.

To compensate, the council unanimously approved a package of investments including a scheme to expand and reconfigure green and leisure areas along Carrer dels Veedors. The project, budgeted at about €671,637.50 after a credit supplement, will remove existing tennis and small basketball courts once replacements are available atop a nearby car park, regrade and plant the street, install natural grass, irrigation and play equipment, and create a larger continuous public area. The works have been contracted and are expected to take up to twelve weeks once they begin; the project will create roughly 1,925 m² of garden and 800 m² of new play space, according to the parish.

The council also approved the purchase of two centrally located properties, Casa Xurrina and the Era de l’Obac, for a combined €966,500. Officials say acquiring these buildings will strengthen the parish’s property holdings and provide sites for future public facilities, reducing dependence on rented premises.

Opposition councillors from Demòcrates have criticised the administration, arguing it could have pursued technical, targeted amendments to limit tower height while preserving overall buildability and mandatory cessions. They say lower, broader buildings would have been possible and would reduce the visual impact. The governing majority rejects that critique as misleading, arguing volumetry and buildability for the Clot were fixed by the 2018 POUP under previous administrations and that reducing height without compensatory measures would have required wider footprints that would reduce available street‑level public space.

Two other blocks in the Clot remain the subject of private projects. The parish says owners have begun informal talks with planning technicians but that any further work requires formal submission. Ongoing legal actions related to the 2023 plan modification are cited by the administration as a constraint on its options.

For now the Clot d’Emprivat site remains closed to the public. The parish’s information campaign, the acquisition of parking spaces and property purchases, and the planned improvements to Carrer dels Veedors are presented by officials as measures to mitigate the impact, but the closure has intensified debate among residents and politicians over the scale and urban impact of new development in the heart of the parish.