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ARCHIVED - 20 million euros to recover emblematic hotel in Mijas and support tourism growth
The Hotel Byblos in Mijas, Málaga (Andalusia), which was very popular with celebrities and famous names including Princess Diana and the Rolling Stones, has been closed since 2010.
An iconic Costa del Sol hotel, the Hotel Byblos in Mijas, is set to rise from its ashes as part of a recovery project with European funding managed by the Andalusian regional government.
The hotel, which was a firm favourite with Princess Diana after her separation from Prince Charles, closed its doors for good in 2010 after various years of gradual decline. Now, the regional authorities have announced that the derelict complex will be rebuilt through an ambitious project that has been allocated 20 million euros, most of which come from the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER).
The hotel first opened in 1986 and its popularity with the jet-set gave it an emblematic status which, apart from the British princess, also attracted famous names and faces including the Rolling Stones and the Saudi royal family. Local legends claim that ‘Lady Di’, as the Spanish fondly called her, was caught and photographed topless at the hotel but the pictures were never published as Hola! magazine allegedly bought them and burned them.
The project aims to recover and extend the hotel and make use of disused infrastructure, boost tourism in the area, create jobs and reinforce the area’s accommodation options to attract foreign tourists. The design has tried to respect the original architecture while relying on digitalization and energy efficiency to bring it up to speed. It will be managed by Grupo Marugal under a franchise agreement with Hyatt international group within the Unbound Collection brand.