Delete
Keyboxes on tourist dwellings in the area around Plaza de la Merced in Malaga city centre. Salvador Salas
Has the tourist rental market reached its peak in Spain? Costa del Sol and Malaga lose over 3,000 properties in four months
Tourism

Has the tourist rental market reached its peak in Spain? Costa del Sol and Malaga lose over 3,000 properties in four months

Between August and November last year the number of rental offers for holidaymakers in the province fell by 7.5%, roughly in line with the national average

Friday, 24 January 2025

Perhaps it is a seasonal issue: autumn is not the same as summer, although temperatures in Malaga are quite similar at both times of the year. Or it is possible that the restrictive regulation is already having an impact, although the limitation on the setting up of more tourist lets only came into force in Malaga city on 13 January? Be that as it may, according to the latest data from Spain's INE national statistics institute published this Thursday, the number of holiday flats has fallen in Malaga: if in August 2024 there were 44,365, in November the figure was 41,039. This is 3,326 fewer holiday homes, which represents a fall of 7.5%. Therefore, if holiday homes accounted for 4.45% of the total property stock in the province in August last year, three months later their proportion had fallen to 4.12%. In any case, this percentage keeps it among the provinces where holiday rentals still weigh in somewhat on the residential market as a whole, behind only Las Palmas (4.94%) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (4.48%).

This is not the first time that there has been a fall in the number of tourist dwellings in Malaga since the INE has been gathering this experimental statistic. However, it is the biggest fall to date, at least in absolute terms. Why? Because the other important drop took place between August 2020 and February 2021 during the middle of the pandemic, when the number went from 34,567 to 31,736, which represents a decrease of 2,831 dwellings. This means that the drop in percentage terms was greater four years ago (over 8%).

The fall has been generalised throughout the province, at least in the most important municipalities. In Malaga city the drop is 5.6%, from 7,941 tourist homes in August 2024 to below 7,500 in November. In Marbella the drop is close to 8.5% (from 7,516 to 6,881). The drop is greater in Benalmádena, Estepona and Manilva, for example, where it is around 10%, to reach the most recent figures recorded by the INE at 3,318, 2,980 and 1,097 holiday homes, in that order.

<>

In other localities with smaller holiday rental markets, the decreases have also been very significant, such as in Vélez-Málaga and Benahavís, with decreases of 9.5% and 11.5%, to 963 and 820 holiday flats, respectively.

<>
<>

In contrast, anecdotally, there are some villages in Malaga where the number of tourist flats has increased. For example, in Guaro, where the number of flats has risen from 13 to 21.

Spain-wide decline

In any case, this is not an issue unique to Malaga. The fall in the number of holiday homes is happening in general throughout Spain. To begin with, on a national level the drop has been 7.2%, from 396,883 tourist homes to 368,295.

<>
<>

A breakdown by province reveals that Castellón has recorded the biggest percentage drop in the number of tourist homes: the 7,273 in November 2024 are 16.5% less than in August. In Tarragona the decline is around 14.7%, to 11,773. Among the larger markets, the biggest fall was in the Balearic Islands, with a 10.4% drop to 24,190 homes. Meanwhile, in Alicante, the only Spanish province with more holiday lets than Malaga, the fall is 7.7%, to 41,179.

7.2% nationally, the number of tourist dwellings is decreasing

They have gone from 396,883 houses to 368,295 between August and November 2024.

The only holiday destination holding its own is the Canary Islands with its two provinces of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The number of holiday homes registered in November practically equals that of August, with a total of 51,286.

These data come from an experimental statistic that the INE has been providing since 2020. To obtain the information, the INE uses a tracking technique to extract the data from the three most used platforms for holiday accommodation advertisements in Spain. From there, the offer is checked against the regulations and the registers of each region as the tourist licensing authorities. Then, as a last step, any properties that may be duplicated are eliminated, because there are flats that may be advertised on more than one platform.

Esta funcionalidad es exclusiva para registrados.

Reporta un error en esta noticia

* Campos obligatorios

surinenglish Has the tourist rental market reached its peak in Spain? Costa del Sol and Malaga lose over 3,000 properties in four months