A holiday hotspot that saw a surge in British arrivals just last year has taken a tougher stance on tourist rentals. During a recent session of the council in Malaga, Dani Perez, Secretary General of the local Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) branch, did not garner enough support to have the city declared under pressure from tourist rentals.
This means the council did not impose a cap on the prices of these accommodations destined for holidaymakers flocking to Malaga.
Yet, the majority of the councillors approved an amendment made by the conservative People’s Party (PP) to the motion pushed forward by the PSOE, which will translate into a modification of the General Urban Development Plan (PGOU).
This change entails the establishment of a limitation of tourist rentals in zoned areas, tailored to the number of such accommodations already existing in each district.
The council’s decision is a response to rising tensions in Malaga, split between the need for affordable housing and the booming tourist rental market.
The latter is considered by some the culprit of the spike in property prices, an issue that brought the PSOE to ask for a rent cap.
Vox’s deputy spokesperson Yolanda Gómez argued a similar cap could end up doing more harm than good by discouraging property owners from renting out their homes.
Malaga, the second-most populous city in the Andalusia region, lies in southern Spain, in the Costa del Sol area beloved by British tourists.
The ancient city, the history of which dates back around 2,800 years, experienced a surge in tourist arrival in 2023 that surpassed even pre-pandemic figures.
Last year, Malaga Airport reached a new milestone in its 104-year history by seeing more than 21 million people passing through it.
During the first 10 months of 2023, hotels on the Costa del Sol and across the Malaga province attracted more visitors than any other year on record. A whopping 19.1 million stays in hotels alone were noted between January and October last year.
This type of accommodation also registered 0.6 percent more British visitors during this period when compared to the same time in 2019. The UK market took the crown as the most important for hotels in the Costa del Sol area last year, with nearly 30 percent of all tourists staying in these structures coming from the UK.
When it comes to tourist rentals in the area, 483,814 travellers were welcomed in apartments in Costa del Sol in the first half of 2023, according to data published in August by Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) – up one percent when considering the same period of 2022.
