Torre del Mar theatre project reactivated after months of delays over budget problems

Culture

The eastern Costa del Sol town's major cultural project, which will bear the name of the flamenco dancer Rocío Molina, has a planned investment of 12 million euros

Eugenio Cabezas

The second phase of the Torre del Mar theatre has finally been reactivated after months of delays due to budget problems. The project, which began ... in the eastern Costa del Sol town in September 2022, will bear the name of the local flamenco dancer Rocío Molina. The work had been at a standstill for three years, when the first phase, the foundations and structure, was completed.

Phase two of the project has been awarded to Soluciona Obras y Servicios, S.L.U. and Lirola Ingeniería y Obras, S.L., for just over seven million euros, VAT included, and with a completion period of 18 months, as SUR reported in December 2025.

According to Vélez-Málaga town hall this step unblocks one of the decisive phases of the infrastructure after an administrative process that was prolonged due to cost increases and the need to modify the project.

Deputy mayor of Vélez-Málaga and Torre del Mar, Jesús Carlos Pérez Atencia said in a video posted on his social media that the work "is finally starting", adding that this marks "a decisive phase for the future theatre and for the cultural approach of the town".

This marks a decisive phase for the future theatre and for the cultural approach of the town"

The second phase focuses on the enclosure of the building's structure, an essential part of consolidating the work and advancing in the architectural definition of the future stage space. The contract was put out to tender in June 2025 after the project had to be modified due to the increase in construction costs, a circumstance that had already led to the initial contractor's resignation.

The town hall argues that the award guarantees the technical and economic viability of the project and allows to continue with an infrastructure that aspires to become a cultural reference of Torre del Mar and the municipality of Vélez-Málaga as a whole. The theatre, with capacity for 550 seats, will be built on a municipal plot located next to the Eduardo Hernández indoor swimming pool, in the Cerro del Águila area of the town.

Technical and economic feasibility

In December 2025 SUR reported that the planned investment for the theatre had risen to 12 million euros, an increase of 54 per cent over the initial estimate. This budgetary development has been accompanied by a technical and administrative review process that is now beginning to unblock with the formalisation of this contract and the start of work on the second phase.

The town hall has highlighted that the economic and employment impact that can be generated by the reactivation of the work, both in the direct execution and in the activity linked to a future cultural facility of these characteristics. The municipal objective is not to further lengthen the deadlines of an action that has accumulated several years of delays.

The new theatre will bear the name of Rocío Molina, one of the most renowned figures in Spanish dance who was born in Torre del Mar.

The third phase corresponds to the equipment of bathrooms, seats, office furniture and other furnishings, at a cost of 165,081 euros, which will be provided by Ascender S. L. Finally, the fourth phase is the stage equipment, valued at just over 1.5 million euros.

The reactivation of the new Torre del Mar theatre comes just two months after the reopening of the Lope de Vega Theatre in Vélez-Málaga, which reopened in March after 24 years of closure and a full renovation. It has become the second largest theatre in terms of capacity in Malaga province, with 908 seats and an investment of 6.7 million euros.