Malaga outlines six-year plan to eradicate all asbestos across city

Malaga City Council has launched a major operation to eliminate all asbestos roofing and building components across the municipality within six years.

The campaign complies with national circular economy legislation requiring all high-risk asbestos in public buildings to be cleared by 2028, with full dismantling across private properties mandated by 2032.

The Municipal Urban Planning Department awarded a 29,282-euros contract to specialist firm Labore Innova to complete a comprehensive asbestos census and removal schedule within four months.

Engineers will use satellite imagery and artificial intelligence algorithms to identify asbestos-cement structures, targeting a minimum detection accuracy rate of 90 per cent.

The census will map properties based on contamination risk, building age, and size, with priority given to sites near vulnerable populations, including schools, health centres, and care homes.

In addition to satellite mapping, technicians will carry out physical core sampling across 10 council-owned properties to inspect roofs and water pipe networks.

Labore Innova will also calculate removal costs for each municipal facility, recommending tailored solutions such as total extraction or encapsulation to protect public health.

The initiative aligns Spain with European Union health and environmental directives aimed at the progressive eradication of toxic building materials.