A before and after picture of Dos Aceras street, where most of the key safes that were anchored to a wall have been removed Salvador Salas / Marilú Báez

City council starts removing eyesore key safes from public streets in Malaga

Local Police and council officials are sweeping the areas where the majority of the secure boxes holding keys for tourist apartments are located

Matías Stuber

Malaga

Tuesday, 9 May 2023 | Updated 10/05/2023 09:16h.

Malaga council has started to remove the key safes of tourist apartments from streets across the city.

Local Police have descended on areas where many of them are located, especially in the city centre and around La Malagueta, in the past few days.

The security boxes that hold keys are used so that landlords do not need to be present at the time tourists are checking in or out. They are considered an eyesore by many, prompting the council crackdown.

"We have started to remove these boxes from all the structures that form part of the public thoroughfare", councillor for Security, Avelino Barrionuevo, confirmed to SUR.

But he said the town hall could not remove them if they are attached to fence railings, or the facades of private apartments.

"In this case, it is up to the communities of owners to decide whether or not to allow them," Barrionuevo said.

Local Police are in charge of notifying the council about where the security boxes are, while the town hall keeps a record of the reports that come in from citizens.

When asked about the number of complaints that had been made to remove the safes, the councillor could not provide an exact number.

"In many places where these key safes were, we have seen that they had already been removed by the owners," Barrionuevo said.

The operation to remove the boxes does not aim to entirely rid the city of them, but just reduce the number of them dotted around Malaga's streets.