Socialists to call on Andalusian regional government to recognise Nerja housing crisis

The announcement was made on Wednesday 23 September by the general secretary of the Malaga Socialists and Andalusian regional government representative, Josele Aguilar, during an appearance in Nerja alongside Patricia Gutiérrez, who was recently nominated as the party’s mayoral candidate for the 2027 local elections.

The initiative revives a debate that was brought before Nerja town hall in April 2024. At that time, the council unanimously approved a proposal to urge the regional government to carry out the necessary studies to determine whether the municipality met the requirements set out in the housing act. The resolution stipulated that, should these analyses confirm that the legally required conditions were met, the Andalusian government would initiate the relevant procedures for the declaration.

The declaration does not depend solely on a local council resolution. Act 12/2023 stipulates that it is the responsibility of the competent housing authority and requires a prior procedure based, among other indicators, on price trends, household income and the financial burden involved in accessing housing. The criteria set out include the cost of housing and utilities exceeding 30 per cent of average household income, or prices having risen over a five-year period by at least three percentage points above the regional CPI.

The designation as a strained area may also trigger specific restrictions on the rent for certain new tenancy agreements. The regulations stipulate, subject to the exceptions provided for in the Act itself, references to the rent under the previous tenancy agreement and, for large landlords and certain properties, to the national index system. Therefore, this does not entail a single, automatic maximum rent for all tenancies in the municipality.

Aguilar maintains that, two years after the municipal agreement, there has been no "effective response" from the regional government. “It is not fair that young people from Nerja and Maro have to leave their homes, have to leave their town to start their working or professional lives elsewhere simply because there is no possibility of finding a home here,” said the Socialist leader, who has blamed the Partido Popular's (PP) housing policies for the situation. The PP, which runs a coalition government with Vox at the Andalusian regional government, has repeatedly stated that it has no intention of implementing this measure, which is provided for in national legislation, within the region.

Consequently, Nerja does not feature among the new areas identified as having a strained residential property market in the latest resolutions published by the Ministry of Housing during the first and second quarters of 2026. The declarations published in the Official State Bulletin (BOE) this year relate, among other areas, to municipalities or regions in the Basque Country, Asturias and Galicia.

The debate is also taking place in a town where tourist accommodation plays a significant role. According to the latest data from the INE compiled by SUR , relating to the end of 2025, tourist accommodation accounted for 16.36 per cent of Nerja’s housing stock, the highest percentage in Malaga province, with 2,719 units recorded in these statistics. The Andalusian tourism register recorded more than 4,300 authorised holiday homes.

The lack of affordable housing has also affected the business community. The Nerja Business Association (AEN) has been highlighting the difficulties faced by businesses in the hospitality, retail, construction and service sectors in attracting and retaining staff who are unable to find accommodation in the town. The association has also set up a dedicated working group to explore possible solutions relating to land, long-term tenancies and affordable housing.

The 2024 municipal agreement also received the votes of the PP, although at the time the local government rejected the PSOE's proposal to set a maximum deadline of one year for the regional government to carry out the study. The councillor for housing, Nieves Atencia, argued that there were other mechanisms for pressing the regional administration to act swiftly and countered the PSOE’s criticisms by highlighting the council’s actions on housing, including eleven properties for young people and the drafting of a new municipal plan.

Housing will be one of the key issues that Patricia Gutiérrez will focus on in her new bid for the mayoral election in 2027. The Socialist spokesperson has also listed neighbourhoods and residential areas, the elderly, young people and families, the protection of heritage and ‘sustainable tourism’ among her priorities. ‘