Two municipal districts from the inland part of the province of Cadiz plan to build golf courses over the coming months. Some of them are at a further state than others, but nearly all of them are linked to hotel and urban developments.

The inland golf formula is already operating in Jerez, Benalup-Casas Viejas or Arcos de la Frontera, to an extent that they may expand their facilities, but the majority of the province’s 22 courses are located mainly in the coastal towns up to now.

As investors are now focused on the so-called "away from the beach" sector and are looking towards the inland regions of the province, there is not only a greater range of facilities, but the investors have now turned their sights on twelve municipal districts and are not so centred on one area.

The towns of Espera, Bornos, Prado del Rey, Villaluenga and Ubrique in the mountains; Paterna de la Rivera, Alcalá de los Gazules and Medina Sidonia in La Janda; Los Barrios, Castellar and Jimena de la Frontera in the Campo de Gibraltar and Trebujena in the region in the north-west of the province will soon have one or even two gold courses, as in the case of Medina, Trebujena or Los Barrios.

The cornerstone of the future San Pablo golf course in Jimena de la Frontera was laid at the end of July. It will be part of a complex with a 150-room hotel, 1,100 houses and a commercial area.

Castellar de la Frontera, which is also in the Campo de Gibraltar, plans to build a golf course, under the aegis of Valderrama, on the Loma de la Cierva y la Guillena estate This initiative has already been approved by the local council and is included in its General Urban Development Plan (PGOU).

The two projects in Los Barrios are still pending approval one at El Bálsamo estate and the other close to the River Guadacorte according to municipal sources.

In the mountains

Work on the Prado del Rey golf course is well underway, as it already has the approval of the Autonomous Government of Andalusia. The Prado del Rey Golf Resort will also include a hotel and houses.

The situation is different at Villaluenga. Even though the project dates back to 2004 and investors have already been found, they are still waiting for the design. In this case, the facilities will include an 18-hole golf course and a polo field, as well as a hotel and one hundred houses.

There are already developers interested in building a golf and equestrian centre in Ubrique, according sources at the town council.

Another of the towns in the north of the province of Cadiz, Espera, is working plans for Golf Resort Espera, which will have a 27-hole course and a 150-room hotel.

On 16th October, Bornos Town Council and the developer signed an agreement to start the building work. It has much in common with the Espera project. In fact, its provisional name is Golf Resort Bornos and the developer is the same as the one in Espera. The Bornos course will have 18 holes and a shopping centre, a residential zone and a further area with a hotel. Over 500 million euros is expected to be invested in Bornos and Espera.

Six more

Bernard Devos, the driving force behind the Benalup-Casa Viejas course, is working on a draft plan to build two golf courses and a hotel at Trebujena.