Malaga sets date for withdrawal of horse-drawn carriage rides for tourists

The city council decision follows complaints that the coachmen do not maintain their facilities and also pointed to the expensive damage they cause to the road surface

Jesús Hinojosa

Malaga

Tuesday, 16 July 2024, 11:04 | Updated 19:25h.

By 2035 horse-drawn carriages will no longer be transporting tourists around Malaga city centre.

The decision was reached on Monday 15 July at a council meeting following a debate on the motion by Vox deputy spokesperson Yolanda Gómez who called for the service to be maintained for visitors to the city. But transport councillor Trinidad Hernández said: "The model of horse-drawn carriages as a tourist attraction has been difficult to fit into the city for some time, it is a service that should be ended".

In 2015 an order was approved which gave a 20-year validity to the licences and was committed to the rescue of existing ones, at a price of 45,000 euros. "In 2035 there will be no more horse-drawn carriages in Malaga," said Hernández, who ruled out the project announced years ago by the city council to move the current stables in Teatinos to another part of the city.

The councillor also criticised stable owners who "do nothing for the maintenance of these stables and pay nothing", and showed a list of invoices for cleaning and rubbish removal which the council has had to pay so far this year. "We made a precarious transfer of land and they have to maintain their stables, pay for disinfection, water, electricity... and they do nothing," Hernández said.

"This is not a public service, it is a private service. Our only obligation is to establish the system of licences and stops in the city, and to ensure that young coachmen have another employment opportunity," Hernández said.

Vox's motion urged the city council "to maintain and promote the tradition of horse-drawn carriages in Malaga city and to seek solutions, respecting the acquired rights of licence holders and recognising the problems of job placement that arise after the withdrawal of licences", of which there are currently some 25 in force.

According to Hernández, the council has had to spend half a million euros to repair damage to the surface of the streets in the centre of Malaga caused by horseshoes. "They refuse to use rubber horseshoes as they do in other cities," she added. "You can't imagine the complaints from tourists that arrive daily at the city hall about the conditions of the horse-drawn carriages."

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