Work has started on a national defense post atop the Cerro de la mezquita, the highest peak of the Cabrera range above Turre – the mountaintop just next to the electric pylons, with the TV and radio antennas on them.
The defense post is part of the national SIVE maritime surveillance scheme, which constants scans Spains’ borders to detect intruders – normally, illegal immigrants from Morocco and drug dealers.
As this is part of “national defense”, financed by the Ministry of Defense, normal planning regulations don’t apply, although the scheme has been kicked around for some time now. Turre townhall lodged an objection some time ago but this was overruled.
The full plans are, naturally, classified, but it is believed that a large automated radar scanner post will be installed up there. I’m assured that the whole mountain top will be levelled out, and the mountain is expected to loose about 3meters in height.
How visible this will be is unknown. Work has started on building a proper access road up to the top, from the road that weaves it’s way from Cabrera to El Carrasco. I don’t know if the scanners will be those big white golf ball things or a more traditional radar post, but the buildings are expected to be “quite big”.
Had Turre townhall not objected to giving the whole mountain range “protected status” some years ago – the mayor wanted to build some 55,000 homes in Cabrera, you will remember- then this couldn’t have been done, so there’s no point Turre whinging about it now. Either way, it’s a shame.