If the forecasts are fulfilled, it will be only a few months before the large shopping center La Maquinilla opens to the public in Colmenar Viejo. Its opening, near the El Ventanal de la Sierra Shopping Center, is scheduled for 2026 and will house in its more than 16,500 square meters of surface both outlets and “national and international reference brands”.
In spite of the fact that from the moment the Town Council and the company Nhood announced the project for this new commercial park -in November last year- it has been emphasized that more than 85% of the premises are already committed to these brands, it has not been revealed which ones they will be.
What is confirmed, according to the information on its website, is that it will have a Fitness Park. It will not be the only newly built shopping center in Madrid that will have one: Nasas Madrid, the future shopping center next to the Metropolitano, will also have its own.
Beyond the stores, the two floors of La Maquinilla will have space dedicated to leisure and restaurants and services such as parking.
The neighbors of the area denounce other shortcomings.
The opening of the shopping center is accompanied by controversy, and is that for the neighbors of the area the news does not have the celebratory nuance shared by the City Council of the town and the company Nhood.
In the same Instagram publication in which they announced the project, there are repeated comments denouncing more pressing shortcomings in infrastructure such as transportation, emergencies, support for local commerce or leisure options for young people.
To these comments are added, on the other hand, those related to the fact that the enclosure will be located opposite the biogas macroplant that is to be built in the area, in whose vicinity there are also several schools.
The controversy of the macro biogas plant
As a way of channeling the concern and opposition to the future macroplant, the neighborhood has united under the platform Stop Biogás Colmenar Viejo and Tres Cantos. This past Sunday, October 26, thousands of people took to the streets of the municipality to demonstrate their rejection under slogans such as “Lying Mayor, the project is dangerous”, “Not so big and not so close” or “Smells do not understand colors”.
Among the effects that concern the people who live in the area are the toxic emissions and their effects on health, the degradation of the environment or the devaluation of their homes and businesses. They also recall that its installation would be added to that of the current landfill, and denounce that it is becoming “the garbage dump of the northern area”.