Malaga mayor looks to Guadalhorce Valley to solve housing shortage and calls for more commuter trains

The problem with access to housing was a key topic in the conversation between Mayor of Malaga Francisco de la Torre and Mayor of Cadiz Bruno García at the Fundación Unicaja cultural centre on Friday. The event was the result of the collaboration of SUR and the foundation.

De la Torre strongly believes that the municipalities in the Guadalhorce Valley could strengthen their role as commuter towns for Malaga city as a response to the current housing crisis.

During the event, he welcomed the emergence of more residential projects in the Guadalhorce, but stressed the need for improved rail connections to the city. "It's good that we have projects in the Guadalhorce, but we need to increase commuter rail frequencies so that people can choose to live in other municipalities where demand isn't as high as in the city, which would revitalise the area," De la Torre said.

The mayor of Cadiz also stated that he is strengthening the city's ties with its surrounding areas, thanks to the infrastructure that connects them - Puente de la Constitución de 1812 and the tram-train.

Contrary to De la Torre, however, his aim is to curb the depopulation that Cadiz city has been experiencing for the last 30 years. "We are losing 1,000 people per year; our goal is to stop this depopulation and the wider area has to help us, but not at the expense of housing," García stated.

Both mayors agreed that the lack of sufficient electrical infrastructure is hindering the development of new residential projects, precisely when they are most needed. De la Torre stated that this affects the Lagar de Oliveros project, west of the Puerto de la Torre district, and the Campanillas valley, where the urban planning department has allocated thousands of subsidised housing units. "The power needs to be there. I've written letters to the Minister for Ecological Transition," the mayor said.

"I've written letters too. The city of Cadiz has an electricity problem. Development depends on supply. It's not that we don't have it. It's that it doesn't look like we're going to get it. It's happening everywhere. We have to make decisions that allow us to develop," García said. According to him, "the central government isn't keeping pace with the social reality".