Is Torremolinos a tourist town, or not?

Is Torremolinos a tourist municipality? There will be those who find this question confusing, because the Costa del Sol town, which has a pioneering position in mass tourism in Spain, is undoubtedly one of the main destinations chosen by national and foreign tourists every year.

Torremolinos has official recognition as a tourist municipality at a regional Andalusian level (the Junta de Andalucía gave it that recognition many years ago), but not at state level. And this is precisely what this municipality, which officially has around 69,000 registered residents, has proposed to change.

Supported by the Alliance of Tourist Municipalities (AMT) Sol y Playa, which includes other major destinations such as Adeje, Arona, Benidorm, Calviá, Lloret de Mar, Salou and San Bartolomé de Tirajana, a commissioned study that proposes a series of changes in the current legislation, which will allow them to “access better financing”, has been presented to the government.

The study, which was presented this week in Madrid, analyses the existing legislation on tourism, not only in each of the autonomous communities, but also at a national and international level (in more than 40 countries), as well as the regulations regarding financing in each of these places. The study shows that the current legislation falls short, since only 14 Spanish localities meet the current requirements.

Torremolinos, for example, is excluded because the number of second homes does not exceed the number of main homes, without taking into account that, like many destinations in the region, its population can triple during the summer months.

“We are talking about medium-sized municipalities, none with more than 100,000 inhabitants, but which contribute to more than 20 per cent of the tourism GDP. We deserve better financing in order to balance our contribution to the economic dynamism of the country. During the high season, municipal services are stretched to the limit to cover an overpopulation that multiplies by three or four times,” mayor Margarita del Cid said.