"The ministry of the environment is to set in train with immediate effect the expropriation of land concerned by the hotel at El Algarrobico beach" at Cabo de Gata on the coast of Almeria, it said in a statement.

Part of the hotel being built by the Azata construction firm was "inside the right of way public demarcation zone" and therefore could not be given official blessing, the statement added.

Azata told AFP it was considering how to react to the ministry's intervention, which could lead to the hotel's demolition.

Environmental group Greenpeace said it was "very satisfied" at the decision, which it said would "bring about the demolition of more than half the hotel".

According to the ministry, the demarcation zone had been set up on the fringes of the park in 1997 but the law had not previously been applied.

The ministry, which condemned what it termed the "destruction and privatisation of the shoreline" in the affected region, blamed "a lack of interest" on the part of the Popular Party, in power at the time, in enforcing coastal protection legislation.

Last week, Greenpeace staged a sit-in at the hotel site and demanded the demolition of the 20-storey, 411-room building.

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