The moratorium does not apply to projects for which the necessary procedures had already started before it came into force. Consequently, in July and August, the city council granted planning permission for five new tourist flat complexes and a hotel.

The hotel is set to replace a car park on Avenida de la Paloma 44. The developer, Bilbao Hiria, is planning a three-star hotel with 175 rooms for this site. The design features 35 parking spaces across two basement levels and a swimming pool.

Furthermore, the urban planning department has granted planning permission for three buildings, each comprising nine holiday flats, on Calle Pepe Estrada 5, next to the Alameda de Barceló; on Calle Albéniz 15, between Calle Emilio Díaz and Calle San Juan Bosco; and on Calle Las Navas 19, in Huelin.

The way is also clear for a fourth property of a similar nature on Calle Torre de San Telmo, north of the Baños del Carmen, and a project comprising 25 holiday flats with parking spaces on Calle Eduardo Domínguez Ávila 18 and 24.

On that same street, the town hall has already authorised another development of 20 tourist accommodation units, developed by a company belonging to Mayor of Estepona José María García Urbano.

The urban planning department has also continued granting permissions for the conversion of commercial premises into residential properties, including a student residence planned by a Madrid-based company (Inversiones Thelta) on a plot on Carrera de Capuchinos 15 and 17, opposite the new four-star hotel of the Zenit chain, which is now in the final stages of construction.

This new student residence will feature a total of 29 rooms and have five parking spaces on the building's own premises. The plot measures 414 square metres and the building will have three storeys (ground floor plus two upper storeys), with a height not exceeding 15 metres. The estimated cost is around three million euros.

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