Holiday rentals on Costa Tropical double in six years and are close to 2,000 euros per week

The high cost of summer holidays has become one of the main topics of conversation in recent months. And no wonder. According to data from the Coastal Rental Report 2026 prepared by the Tecnitasa Group, holiday rentals on the Costa Tropical have risen by more than eight per cent compared to last summer, above the national average of 6.5 per cent.

In 2020, renting a small apartment in Motril's Playa Granada area for a week cost 700 euros. This summer, the same type of accommodation and even smaller ones, are being advertised at 1,700 euros a week; an increase of 1,000 euros in six years.

According to Irene Robles and Mari Carmen Morillas from Tecnitasa in Granada, the increase is not only experienced in this area of Motril, which is one of the most sought after. Playa de Poniente has also risen at a similar rate. A 95-square-metre flat costs around 500 euros in 2020 and today it is around 1,200 euros.

But the highest price this summer is Velilla, in Almuñécar, where a small apartment can cost up to 1,900 euros per week, the same price as a three-bedroomed apartment in Playa Granada. In San Cristóbal, also in Almuñécar, prices are around 1,600 euros per week, while in La Herradura, they are around 1,300 euros per week.

In Castell de Ferro, in the municipality of Gualchos, prices have also risen above expectations. A small apartment in the Cambriles area is being rented this summer for 1,200 euros per week. This is closely followed in Salomar, in Salobreña, where small apartments are 1,500 euros per week. In Torrenueva Costa, the price of holiday rentals remains at 850 euros, the lowest in the whole province, according to the Tecnitasa report.

Guzmán Loma, manager of Match Point, an estate agents in Almuñécar specialising in holiday flats, explained that there are several factors to take into account regarding the rising prices on the coast. The first of these is related to the new regulation of tourist licences in Andalucía which came into effect two years ago.

According to Guzmán, until two years ago, any flat with a first occupancy licence could be registered with the Junta de Andalucía as tourist accommodation. It was enough with a responsible declaration in which the owner justified that they fulfilled the requirements. The new regulation now establishes that in order to obtain the tourist licence it is necessary to have the consensus of the community of neighbours of the building and getting all the owners to vote in favour of one of their flats being converted into a tourist flat is "very difficult".

The result, he says, is that there are no new tourist flats entering the market on the coast. Those that are there are the ones that were already licensed before the new law was passed, and those are the only ones that can be offered legally.

José Miguel Aguilera, manager of Procosta, an estate agents in Almuñécar, adds that the Andalusian administration has also been in charge of reviewing the permits that were already in force and the review has found many did not comply with the requirements. In Almuñécar and La Herradura alone, he calculates, between 40 and 50 apartments have been withdrawn from the market in the last two years. In his own estate agency they have gone from managing between 15 and 20 to just a dozen, all of them with the correct documentation.

At the same time as the supply of holiday apartments has been decreasing, demand is growing. The Costa Tropical has become more popular in recent years and is considered less crowded than neighbouring destinations like the Costa del Sol, making it an increasingly attractive option for holidaymakers who prefer a quieter destination, according to José Miguel Aguilera.

"There is much more demand because of the type of tourism in our region, and the fact that there is more demand and fewer options increases the price," he sums up. "Those who have a licence charge much more because they are the only ones who can legally offer this service," he adds.

The situation also generates concern among holidaymakers who have been coming to the Costa Tropical for years. Until relatively recently, it was quite normal for families to wait until weeks before the summer to look for and book accommodation. There was so much on offer that there was no rush, there was always something to be found.

Now, with fewer flats available and demand continuing to grow, tourists have learned that if they wait too long to decide, they run out of options: "From January, bookings for July and August are already being formalised," confirms Aguilera, adding that "most of our units were booked before Easter, in March or April". This is the first time this has happened. With fewer options, holidaymakers are having to book early or risk not finding anything.

According to what Morillas and Robles tell IDEAL, Granada's Costa Tropical is growing "faster" than the national average and also faster than many of the coastal areas that have been considered more expensive or more touristy, although the average is still below.

If spending a week on the coast of Granada costs around 1,440 euros, according to estimates made by IDEAL by cross-referencing data from real estate portals, in Andalucía as a whole it is 1,494 euros per week.

The highest price in Spain continues to be in Puerto Banús, in Marbella, where a 110-square-metre flat costs an astronomical 3,800 euros per week. Other exclusive areas such as Portocolom, in Santanyí (Mallorca), with a 250-square-metre detached house at 3,600 euros per week, or the Port of Ibiza, with a 100-square-metre flat at 3,450 euros. On the other hand, the lowest price in Spain is found in Playa Murallón, in Tapia de Casariego, Asturias, where a small flat can be rented for as little as 560 euros per week.