The high court of the Valencian Community (TSJCV) has dismissed in full the administrative appeal brought by Berlin Invest Trade SL against the final approval of the Ensanche Levante partial plan (Plan Parcial, Sector 1/1) in Benidorm, TodoAlicante reports. The court upheld the town hall's decision of 27 March 2024 to approve the plan. It rejected every ground of the appeal, under which the company wanted both the council's decision and the planning document itself overturned, and ordered the company to pay the legal costs. The decision is recorded as ruling (sentencia) number 512 of the first section of the court's administrative law chamber.
The company argued that the plan affects structural elements of Benidorm's general plan (Plan General) and so needed approval by the regional government. The court disagreed: the approved plan changes neither the boundary of the sector nor the classification of the land. In the court's view the plan sits within the existing Plan General, so the regional review the company demanded is not required.
The TSJCV confirmed that Benidorm Town Hall had full authority to draw up, process and finally approve the partial plan, because it deals with detailed local zoning. The regional government (Generalitat) took the same position during the approval process.
The court noted that the Plan General already sets hotel and residential use as the main characteristics of the Ensanche Levante area. The plan was therefore lawful in making commercial hotel use the predominant one and residential use compatible with it. The partial plan provides for 292,600 square metres of net buildable area for hotel and residential development.
According to representatives of the development area, approval of the plan took almost seven years, during which it received favourable reports from all the competent bodies and mandatory consultees. The Agrupación de Interés Urbanístico (AIU), which represents most of the landowners in the sector, says the next two documents have been under official review since 2025: the Programa de Actuación Integrada (integrated development programme) and the infrastructure project. The AIU believes the ruling clears the way for them and expects both to be finally approved by the end of this year.
The ruling confirms that the final approval of the plan was lawful. It is not, however, a final permit for the next stages of the project and does not replace the permissions those stages need. The source does not say when building work could start, whether the ruling can be appealed, or how the company has responded. It also gives no official reaction from the town hall or the regional authorities.