The regional government of Guillermo Fernández Vara (PSOE) is working on the expropriation of more than 200 hectares that will pass into the hands of the promoter of the Elysium City macro-project, in Castilblanco (Badajoz) in the region known as La Siberia Extremadura. In this urban operation, it is expected that more than 8,000 million euros will be invested in hotels, casinos, villas, theme and water parks, among other infrastructures.
The expropriation will be carried out by the Junta de Extremadura, but it will be paid for by the promoter of the operation, the real estate company called Castilblanco Elysium Corporation, behind which is the Sevillian businessman Francisco Nuchera. Once the forced purchase is complete, they will pass into the portfolio of the private firm.
A spokesman for the Extremadura Ministry of Finance and Public Administration indicates that the expropriations will be carried out "as soon as possible." Sources familiar with the process indicate that it is foreseeable that it will be expropriated before July, the deadline that the promoter has to start the works. In fact, it would be necessary for these lands to be in the hands of the Castilblanco Elysium Corporation before beginning development since the firm could not start infrastructure work on land owned by others.
The Government of Extremadura published the Elysium project in the Official Gazette of Extremadura (DOE) at the beginning of January, to which it granted permits to begin construction, but to which it was marked as an obligation that the works should begin within a maximum period of six months, a period that ends in the first days of July. This operation is part of what is known as Legio (Law of Large Leisure Facilities in Extremadura), approved in 2018.
The project affects 1,185 hectares of this area in Extremadura Siberia, adjacent to the provinces of Cáceres, Ciudad Real and Toledo. Of that territory, the project approved by the Board grants the qualification of urbanizable to 835 hectares and the rest will remain undevelopable or environmentally protected. In the 200 hectares to be expropriated by the Government of Extremadura, there is both developable and protected land. The rest, up to 1,185 hectares, already belongs to the company.
"The expropriator is the Junta de Extremadura, however, the beneficiary is the promoter, who receives the farms and must meet the payments and other expenses in accordance with the Forced Expropriation Law," explains the spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance and adds that the price cannot yet be determined, since the fair price must be assessed. The company met with the owners at the Castilblanco City Hall and no opposition to the expropriation was detected, according to knowledgeable sources.
The Board has identified around a hundred farms to be expropriated, as published by the Official Gazette of the Province of Badajoz, with registry and cadastral data of the owners. The Treasury spokesman explains that there is a "great variety of legal situations" among these owners. In fact, these lands come from the confiscation of Mendizábal in the 19th century and there are situations of shared land between several owners who distribute grazing and planting rights, according to Administration sources.
Currently, the company Castilblanco Elysium Corporation is negotiating with seven foreign operators and one national to select the investor to develop Elysium, which will depend on whether some aspects, such as casinos, have more or less relevance.