New Year's wish list for Malaga and the Costa del Sol

"This time next year, will we be able to say we're closer to having the famous coastal railway line?", asks SUR in English editor Rachel Haynes

Rachel Haynes

Malaga

Friday, 27 December 2024, 11:02

What can we wish for now to ensure that the round-up of 2025 (it will be here before we know it - time really does fly) is the best one ever.

Let's start with water. The majority of this year has been full of ... news on the subject of the drought crisis, and then suddenly a couple of weeks of news about floods.

So we went from not enough to too much water, something so essential for our survival, yet also a vicious killer that rushes through towns ripping up and dragging along everything in its path.

So what do we want for 2025 in the water department? We ought to wish for just the right amount of rain to fill the reservoirs, without taking the 'sol' from the Costa del Sol for longer than necessary. That, of course, would be bad for tourism: too much rain and not enough sun.

Again this year the tourism industry has broken records in terms of visitor numbers, flights and hotel stays, however this has been the year in which 'tourism-phobia' has appeared in the press, especially in its Spanish version, 'turismofobia'.

Earlier this year, in a conversation at a UK airport with a group on their way to a week's holiday in the Canaries, they said they could not understand why the Spanish wanted to throw out the tourists if they are the ones who are keeping their economy going.

It's not quite as simple as that, but the remark shows that a tourist sees a tourist resort as just that, a destination whose be all and end all is to look after holidaymakers. They don't see the town, the local people who, believe it or not, don't all work in tourism. They would quite like to carry on living in their home town, something that is becoming more and more difficult as properties are being turned into tourist accommodation.

So all we can hope for in 2025 is the happy medium, effective regulation to stop more and more homes from becoming holiday apartments and more affordable housing for people on "ordinary" salaries.

Finally, transport and mobility. This time next year, will we be able to say we're closer to having the famous coastal railway line? Let's hope at least the promised feasibility study will be well on its way to establishing that a train is just that: feasible. More pressingly though, it would be good to be able to say that traffic jams have been reduced thanks to better bus services and toll road discounts. Too much to ask perhaps.

The wish list for 2025 could be much longer, but we'll leave it there.

Happy New Year.

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