Barely a week goes by without the British press sounding alarms about tourism in the Costa del Sol region.
Is it that they don’t understand the lingo? Could it be that they don’t understand the culture of Spain? Or the political system? Or is it that they are just surviving on clickbait these days?
The latest was Thursday, September 16, with one popular tabloid ‘warning’ Brits hopeful of taking their summer holidays in Malaga city of the doom and gloom that awaits them in the popular destination having limited temporary rentals to tourists in 43 of its neighbourhoods.
The offending headline read, ‘Spain introduces three-year ban for tourists as controls introduced in 43 areas’ and linked, yet again, the cause being supposed ‘protests’ against British tourists. Euro Weekly News is here to tell you, ‘Don’t believe the hype.’
Is Malaga city really banning tourists?
Malaga city council has just introduced a cap, a limit, on the number of new licences to be granted for converting an apartment, designed specifically for family living, into a business. Given this type of accommodation has grown exponentially in popularity over the last couple of years, it is understandable that any town council take measures, and Malaga’s has been far less hard-line on this than the councils of other European cities. We can assure you that Malaga city, like all Costa del Sol towns, is continuing to grant licences to temporary tourist accommodation properties.
Francisco Salado, the president of the Diputación de Málaga (president of the province), is travelling to FITUR, the world’s biggest tourism fair, being held in Madrid in a few days time, precisely to dispel the rumour of what he terms as ‘tourismphobia’ and to reassure everyone that tourists of all nationalities are still very much welcome along the Costa del Sol.
Where were anti-tourism protests?
The protest in Malaga city centre in summer 2024 was in no way against tourists, least of all the British, who have long been an integral part of Costa del Sol society. The main bones of contention that the protest covered were unfettered property speculation, leaving homes empty, and the failure of the central government to grant permission for the construction of low-cost housing with strict controls on speculative property trading, known as VPOs.
However, this issue has been dealt with now with all municipalities in the region having announced plans to begin construction in 2025 of accommodation for thousands of lower-income citizens.
Currently AirBnB lists over 1,000 apartments for short-term rent in Malaga city. Here’s hoping that the British press gives up this constant scaremongering, or at least pays for better translators in 2025. The Costa del Sol is very much still open for business and as welcoming as ever.
This post was originally published on here
