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Ignacio Lillo
Malaga
Friday, 14 February 2025, 12:55
By 2023 we already had a major housing problem in Malaga city. Now it's an even bigger crisis, and what's worse, it's incredibly difficult to solve. So, I had the idea of suggesting - right here in this very column - that young people consider following the route of the C2 Cercanías line, the Guadalhorce line, to stay close to Malaga, even if it meant being further away.
At the end of the day, the actual distance you live from the city doesn't matter; what really counts is the mode of transport available to you - and the train is almost always a reliable option. In just 40 minutes, you can be right in the city centre, without needing a car or getting stuck in traffic - something that even those living in the city's outer neighbourhoods or in much closer municipalities within greater Malaga sometimes struggle to achieve.
That little column was titled "Joven, Vente 'pa' Álora" (Youngster, Move to Álora), and in it I argued that part of the solution to the housing crisis we are facing lies in opening up new areas of opportunity in the metropolitan region to allow for continued growth. Álora is a great example, but I also suggested looking at Pizarra and Cártama, near the train stations along the route.
Well, let's just say Twitter (now 'X') had a field day with me - people absolutely tore into me for suggesting such an outrageous idea... What a shame to be nothing more than a poor hack - there are rich hacks too, but they're few and far between. If I'd been able to take my own visionary advice, maybe I wouldn't still be a poor hack. Two years later, Cártama and Pizarra are now practically unaffordable for anyone on an average salary; and even in Álora, Carratraca and Ardales, demand is surging and house prices are on the rise. Today, this Guadalhorce valley corridor has become a prime area of opportunity, attracting couples tired of viewing city-centre shoeboxes with million-euro price tags, as well as expats looking for a peaceful, reasonably priced home near Malaga, investors eyeing up rural tourism and developers on the hunt for plots to build on.
If this area's population boom isn't happening even faster, it's largely because the rail service has too few trains and a limited timetable - something that really needs to be addressed. More importantly, the regional government is taking an alarmingly relaxed approach to expanding new sections of the A-357 road towards the interior. This is the key to these towns becoming the second ring of Malaga's metropolitan area.
So, to those who were outraged when I suggested two years ago that they look for housing out there - sorry to say, but now, not even in Álora...
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