Malaga loses opportunity to become European Customs Agency
Rome and Lille are now competing for the headquarters role, which leaves Malaga with yet another failure to achieve international host recognition
Malaga has lost the race to become the headquarters of the European Customs Agency (EUCA), for which it had been preparing since last summer.
Only Rome (Italy) and Lille (France) remain in the competition to host the EU's customs data hub.
Liege (Belgium), Bucharest (Romania), Zagreb (Croatia), The Hague (Netherlands), Warsaw (Poland) and Oporto (Portugal) were also competing.
Each EU body had to vote for its two favourite offers and now Rome and Lille will compete for the final vote.
This is yet another disappointment for Malaga, which has lost several international competitions in recent years. In 2010, the city lost the race for the 2016 European Youth Capital. In 2017, it lost to Barcelona in the competition for the host of the European Medicine Agency.
By just eleven votes, Malaga lost to Belgrade (Serbia) during the Expo 2027 election. The Costa del Sol capital has also lost the opportunity to host the 2030 Football World Cup or the 2024 America's Cup.
On Tuesday, the day before the election, Mayor of Malaga Francisco de la Torre expressed his doubts that the city would win. "We have a very good candidacy, but I don't know if that will be enough, when there are so many factors at play," he said.
