Housing crisis and tourism-phobia

2024 has been a year in which the shortage of affordable housing has become very clear across Spain. The fact that an increasing number of properties are being converted to apartments for tourists, especially in Malaga city, has made the connection between both circumstances easy to make, although tourism cannot take all the blame.

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Protests in Madrid were replicated in many of Spain's provincial capitals, including Malaga, where the Malaga Para Vivir group organised demonstrations in July and November with thousands taking to the streets.

Whether you blame tourism, developers preferring high-end projects or just supply not meeting demand, the reason angry protesters have been taking to the streets is clear: the average rent for a property in Malaga and other towns and cities is now significantly higher than the average salary. In the case of Malaga, for example, many young people can no longer afford to live in the neighbourhoods in which they grew up and instead are buying or renting homes in developments on the outskirts or in commuter towns.

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Steps have been made this year to control the numbers of tourist apartments in residential areas, with Malaga and other towns bringing in regulations that holiday accommodation must comply with. The Junta de Andalucía even gave local authorities the power to revoke licences for tourist lets.