Authorities have taken extensive measures at the Camping Villas Caravaning at Playa Honda on the Mar Menor. For safety reasons, all public areas, including sports fields, a restaurant, and a supermarket, have been cordoned off. The toilet and shower facilities, as well as 80 unlicensed prefabricated homes, were also closed on Monday after a legal attempt by the owner, Caravanings Costa Calida SL, to block the closure failed.
Diego Garcia, Councillor of Cartagena, emphasized the urgency of the situation: “These facilities are dangerous as they do not comply with fire safety regulations and also violate urban planning laws.” He added that the city council has the responsibility to ensure people’s safety and therefore only sealed off uninhabited areas. “The owners of the site tried to stop the closure, but a judge approved the council’s intervention against the facilities that violate the law.” People living in the closed accommodations are permitted to retrieve their belongings.
Caravanings Costa Calida expressed dismay in a statement regarding the decision: “We will have to suspend the holidays of more than 20,000 customers.” The operators described the situation as “simply catastrophic for these families and for the local economy” and expressed their incomprehension about the council’s “very aggressive” approach. They claim to have approached the authorities to find a solution to the “complex situation” but received no response. Furthermore, they were unaware of the closure announcement concerning the 80 homes for which a regularization request had been submitted.
Camping Villas Caravaning comprises over 1,100 private owners, some of whom are organized into two associations and have 423 pitches and 320 mobile homes. An estimated 600 people live on the site year-round.
The 80 now-closed prefabricated properties had been erected without the necessary permits, although the city council had already ordered the landowners to cease activities almost three years ago. The need for rigorous safety measures was underscored by two serious fires in 2021 and 2022, in which an 85-year-old German man died. The campsite received a license as early as 1985 under a previous owner. A new application submitted in 2020 was rejected two years later, leading to a lawsuit by the city council. The operator, for its part, lodged an appeal against the order.
