Andalusian regional government awards contract for expansion of Malaga's Guadalhorce motorway

Roads

A court has rejected the appeal of one of the competing companies, unblocking the contracting process, which means that the award will go to the regional government's preferred bidder

Ignacio Lillo

Malaga

The start of construction as part of the first expansion of the Guadalhorce motorway (A-357) of the last 16 years is now closer than ever, with construction due to begin this summer.

The Andalusian regional government (Junta) lifted the suspension of the contracting process on Tuesday, following the dismissal of the appeal, which one of the competing companies had filed.

The regional government made the proposal to award the contract to the Copisa, Constructora Pirenaica and Arpo consortium on 6 March. Exactly a month later, on 6 April, another company filed an appeal, which a court has now rejected, unpholding the Junta's original decision.

The constortium will now officially be responsible for the first section, between Casapalma and the Cerralba interchange. With the court's ratification, the winning bid prevailed over those of other industry giants.

The bid, which competed against 21 others, offered to build this section of motorway for 41.6 million euros. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer. The 4.2-kilometre project, originally tendered for 57 million euros, is crucial for improving transport within the province.

This latest development marks a significant step forward for a project that has been stalled for 15 years. It concerns one of the main access routes to the Guadalhorce Valley and the town of Ronda.

The project was awarded in 2010, but the works never began. Reviewing it was not easy. The original technical design was obsolete and outdated and required repeating the environmental assessment process and redrafting almost all of the technical documentation.

The new route will run largely alongside the existing road, which will remain in use as a service road providing access to nearby properties. It will only diverge from the current alignment where it needs to cross the Grande river, where a new 250-metre bridge will be built. The section will end in Pizarra, where it will link back to the existing road via a new roundabout.

The future connection for the next four-kilometre section of the motorway, between Cerralba and Zalea, is in the final stages of project design. From a technical standpoint, the new road will be a dual carriageway with two lanes in each direction, each 3.5 metres wide. It will also feature outer and inner shoulders of 2.5 and one metres, respectively; a ten-metre median; and one-metre verges.

The widening of this section of the A-357 is not the only project under way along the Malaga-Campillos-Ronda route. The Junta is simultaneously developing two other projects that will add eight more kilometres of motorway: the Cerralba-Zalea section and the widening of the A-367 at the Ronda access points.

Both were awarded in January 2025 and are currently in the design phase. The first will complete the corridor from Malaga to the entrance of Zalea, while the second will improve capacity and safety at one of the busiest points of traffic heading towards Ronda. With these three projects, the regional government aims to modernise a route that is strategic for both freight transport and domestic tourism.