Jamaica regulator requests plan to relocate coral for Fiesta’s overwater suites

Jamaica’s environmental regulator has deferred beach licences that Spanish hotel group Fiesta needs to build overwater suites at its Grand Palladium resort in Point, Hanover.

At its 15 September meeting, the Natural Resources Conservation Authority deferred the application, writing: “Resource Relocation Plan required for review”. It gave that as its only reason.

The licence sought by Fiesta Jamaica Limited covers three revetments, two submerged breakwaters, six groynes, two temporary access roads, piles for the overwater suites, and the removal of seagrass and coral at Point, Hanover.

The authority did not refuse the application, leaving it open for approval once an acceptable relocation plan is filed. It gave no timeline. The Financial Gleaner awaits responses to queries sent to public relations firm FINN, which conducts communications on behalf of Palladium.

The group began operating hotels in the 1960s on the Spanish island of Ibiza, founded by businessman Abel Matutes Juan. In 2000, his hotels were grouped under the name Fiesta Hotel Group. In 2012, the group updated its corporate image and became Palladium Hotel Group, taking its name from its five-star Caribbean resorts, according to its website.

Overwater rooms are among the highest-yielding product in the Caribbean resort market. Palladium Hotel Group signalled last year that it would bring them to its Jamaica operations. The overall hotel project, disclosed in 2024, provides for a 475-room family resort and a 473-room adult resort, including 16 overwater rooms, on 28 acres between the existing hotel and the Caribbean Molasses Company port, with some buildings reaching six storeys. The expansion was priced at €500 million. Palladium also operates resorts in Montego Bay.

Revetments, groynes and submerged breakwaters armour a shoreline and alter how sediment moves along it.

The delay comes as Jamaica pushes to rebuild hotel capacity lost to Hurricane Melissa.

The authority approved other coastal and hotel applications at the same sitting, including a beach licence for sand pumping at Round Hill Hotel and Villas in Hopewell, Hanover, and a renewed environmental permit for Sandals Whitehouse in Westmoreland.

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