MIUC Asked to Regulate its Status by Andalusian Government
The Andalusian Government has formally requested the Marbella International University Centre (MIUC) to regulate its status after ending its affiliation with a Serbian university and joining another in the United Kingdom. The academic institution, which was promoted by Mayor Ángeles Muñoz in 2012, has always been surrounded by controversy.
Request for Administrative Regulation
The Department of University, Research and Innovation announced on Tuesday that it has requested the Marbella academic center, located on Jaime de Mora y Aragón Avenue, to “regulate the current administrative situation”. The request was explained by the department’s counselor, José Carlos Gómez Villamandos, in a Parliamentary Commission.
MIUC’s Affiliation History
According to the Andalusian Government, the institution began in 2014 offering foreign university teachings according to the degrees issued by the Singidunum University of Belgrade (Serbia). After concluding its relationship with this entity, it currently develops its educational offer in collaboration with the University of West London (United Kingdom).
Request for Documentation
The Department learned of this change at the end of 2023 in a meeting with the center’s promoters. They were informed that they had to provide all the relevant documentation to verify that they continued to meet the necessary requirements to continue their activity. Following this first step, the Department of University has required the Marbella study center to deliver, within ten days, the new agreement signed with the English university, or to provide the necessary information to clarify its current administrative status.
Previous Controversies
The counselor pointed out that the academic center’s situation was not regularized until 2021, during which time there was “a series of unfavorable reports” from the then Andalusian Agency of Knowledge. In the end, a favorable resolution was produced in September 2020 of the appeal presented by the entity. This favorable decision, as the counselor has explained, was taken due to “a formal defect”, thus finally granting the center authorization to teach the teachings corresponding to foreign degrees according to the educational system in force in the Republic of Serbia.
MIUC’s History
The possibility of Marbella hosting an international university was one of the ideas proposed by Ángeles Muñoz in her early years as mayor. In October 2011, she announced that she had held meetings in Qatar for the Nest Investment Holding Limited group to invest in an international university, aimed at the business sector, which would be located in Nueva Andalucía. This never became a reality and in 2012 the City Council launched a public competition to install a university on the Pinillo estate. Only one proposal was presented and in February 2013 it was awarded to the Genint group from Switzerland, which reached an agreement with the Singidunum University of Belgrade. Classes began on October 8, 2014, despite not having the relevant permits from the Andalusian Government, nor the municipal licenses, which they obtained later. Even so, there was Ángeles Muñoz, who boasted that Marbella had this academic center and saw her old aspiration fulfilled.
