Any Origo Mare Residents?

[Warriors]

Hi,  I am asking for a friend who has viewed a house on Origi Mar and loved it,  I am not sure it is my cup of tea but would love to hear from anyone who actually owns or rents long term up there,  what is it like to live there?? 
Thanks

Change of title, Sam. Originally "Any Origi Mar Residents?"

[Captain Sensible]

The whole place was built illegally. I believe it's still ongoing in the courts.

[Fabian]

Hi,

I never actually lived in Origo Mare (I think the locals sometimes refer to it as “El Jablito”) but I have spent some time to find out more about it. I also visited the complex a couple of times, last time in February.

The history of Origo Mare (“SAU 12 – Casas de Majanicho”) is very complex, so I am trying my best to summarize what I heard and researched about it:

In 2000, the mayor of La Oliva at the time, Domingo González Arroyo approved the land development plan. It was planned to build a hotel that provides accommodation for 4.000 people, shopping centers, numerous houses for nearly 800 residents and they also wanted to build the largest golf course in europe (approx 4.000.000m²)!
Arroyo approved the project, even though the formal criteria have not been met. For example the environmental impact assessment was missing.

In the meantime the construction company “Oliastur Construcciones” completed around 750 houses. The promoter was “Nombredo S.L.”.
After environmental activists sued the companies in 2006, the supreme court ruled, that Origo Mare (or at least parts of it) are unlawful.
But the project never got demolished an apparently due to the concept of the “conservation of the status quo”, after several years it did not have to get demolished anymore.
In Mai 2014 Pierre & Vacances (by the way Center Parks belongs to this group as well) opened the family resort “Pierre & Vacances Village Club Fuerteventura Origo Mare”, Majanicho. They built an Aquapark and refurbished some of the community facilities, as well as the 323 villas they bought. When presenting the project at the Spanish Embassy in Paris, they said that it is the biggest resort in the canary islands and the 3rd largest in Spain (click).
 
To come back to your question: When I visited Origo Mare this year in February, some parts looked like a “ghost town”, some of the villas have never been occupied since they have been built and are in decay. The (very few) villas that are occupied, look like they are in pretty good condition.
When I drove through the area and looked at some of the houses, a van of a security company came, and I left the premises. Due to the security companies there is no vandalism and even the parts that are in decay still look quite decent.

There are many offers from various real estate agencies, and I think that the price performance ratio is excellent. Still, I do not consider buying one of the villas, mainly for two reasons:

1.       You never know what happens to the project in the future. The EU is still investigating the project:
"The Government seeks an amnesty for the urbanization of Fuerteventura investigated by Europe"
"Majanicho's trade: they want Europe to ‘amnesty’ for the controversial urbanization"
"La Oliva presents measures to the European Commission to repair the damage caused by the Majanicho urbanization"

Who knows if one day the demolition of Origo Mare will be back on the table again? Even though I personally think that the demolition is unlikely (mainly because of the costs) I would not want to live there in uncertainty.

2. I don’t know the occupation numbers of the complex. But when I visited Origo Mare, it was always very quiet. Even the hotel part of the complex was not busy at all. Due to the COVID situation, it probably did not get any better. If (and this is only wild speculation on my part and only a theoretical scenario) the holiday resort would close one day, the whole “city” of Origo Mare would be a ghost town. Nobody would come up with the Money for the security guards and the maintenance anymore. For example, look at the apartment buildings in Calle Sau (I know that this is different, since this project never got completed, but still it pops in to my mind). The beautiful apartments there have been completely ransacked, everything got vandalized.

[Fabian]

Here is a link with more infromation regarding the villas that are currently being sold: https://www.noticiasfuerteventura.com/fu...origo-mare

I remeber that there were some handouts in the resort with brief information regarding the price and the specifictions of the two types of buildings. Maybe I will find it in the next couple of days.
Who knows, maybe If they start a new initiative to sell the villas, new life will come to the complex. 

Also I found some fotos I took on my trip to Origo Mare in February:



As you can see, the parts that are owned by the hotel are in mint condition. I could actually imagine living there, when I rewatch the photos  

   

   

   

But as I mentioned in the post before, some parts are abandoned:

   

   

I think it is very sad to see such beautiful houses rotting away...

[Bray]

Hi folks, we have had a property in Origo Mare for the past 15 yrs and much of the above is true or was at one time. For quite a while it was  very much like a ghost town but was very pleasant nonetheless with a community of very agreeable neighbours and fellow owners. The hotel took over a large number of villas which they have renovated and which brings footfall and atmosphere to the resort. In the meantime, the property division of Santander Bank has taken over many of the remaining houses and is selling them in a renovated state. As far as I am aware, the legal issues have been resolved. Hope this helps
Ver

[Fabian]

Hi,
if the legal issues are really solved I should reevaluate my assessment of Origo Mare. 
I will try to find out more about it in the future, but this will probably take some time since it is quite unlikely  that I will have the chance to get to Fuerte in the next months thanks to COVID.

For me the quietness of Origo Mare is actually a big plus. Of course a car is a must.

[Ray]

JP in Fuerteventura did a video about this place, It's linked below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TYxJRtpPaQ

Would have a good look round before I put any cash down..

[Warriors]

Bray

Thank you for your relevant reply, I am a little disappointed in some of the replies to my original question,  please don't let this forum slump to the depths of another one. The video link to JP,'s walk around was from 2years ago!! My question was directed to people who live or own there, not of other people's opinion of the development. I am fully aware of the legal situation surroundings the place and what steps and measures are being made to make it more appealing. I fully understand it is not everyones ideal location, -but that was never my question  😡

[Perrypower1]

Wow, that’s a bit harsh Warriors.

[Fabian]

Hi,

as someone being new to this forum I don't get your reference 

 don't let this forum slump to the depths of another one.

Would you care to elaborate?


In your original post you were initially referring to "Origo Mare " as "Origi Mar". Since you didn't now the correct name of the complex I honestly thought that you didn't know anything about it and wanted to get some information about it in general. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

As I was interested in Origo Mare as well I thought that I could join the discussion in this thread since it was very similar. Next time I will know better and open a new one.

Still, since this is a public forum, I think it wasn't entirely wrong of me to post additional information here since it might be quite relevant for others who are looking for information online and get this thread as a result.

Again I am sorry if I annoyed you with my posts.