Red Sea Governor Orders 28 Unlicensed Buildings Removed in Hurghada's Magawish Area

The Red Sea governor has ordered the removal of 28 buildings put up in violation of planning rules in the Magawish area of Hurghada, Ahram Gate reported on 5 September.

The report gives the decision and the number of structures, but not the timing of the removals, what the buildings were used for, or whether any are currently occupied. No response from the owners is included, and no figure is given for the area involved.

Magawish lies on the coast south of Hurghada's city centre, in a stretch that mixes residential blocks with tourism development. In the Red Sea cities, most land is state-owned and allocation is controlled by the governorate and the state development agency, which is why unlicensed building is treated as an encroachment matter rather than a routine planning dispute.

The decision follows a run of enforcement action across the governorate that Hurghada News has reported in recent weeks: the Red Sea Governorate publicly warned against encroaching on state land, promising immediate removal and referral to prosecutors, and El Quseir removed a 1,000-square-metre encroachment at its industrial city.

For people living in Magawish, the immediate consequence is that demolition crews are expected in the area, though the governorate has not said when. For anyone buying or renting property along this coast, the case is a further sign that the governorate is actively removing structures it considers unlicensed — and that a building's existence on the ground is not by itself evidence that it is permitted.