A holiday hotspot loved by Brits has become the next Spanish city to ban tourist apartments in a bid to curb overtourism. Driven by UK holidaymakers in particular, Malaga’s tourism sector experienced record-breaking numbers in 2024, with 14.47 million visitors.
However, 43 neighbourhoods in the Andalusian port city have been “saturated” with holiday lets, prompting the city to take a hard stance by banning the registration of any new tourist apartments for the next three years. The objective is to slam the brakes on the consistent increase in holiday rentals in the capital of the Costa del Sol. Coming into force today, August 14, the hardline crackdown means the council will no longer register any new tourist flats.
Announcing the rules Mayor Francisco de la Torre says the aim is to better organise Málaga’s tourism and prevent it from creating “collateral problems” for frustrated locals.
The freeze is also intended to boost traditional housing and encourage alternatives such as coliving, flexliving and cohousing.
According to the AFP news agency, the city, which has a population of less than 600,000, has around 11,500 registered holiday flats while short-term holiday rentals make up 65% of total tourist accommodation in the centre of the city.
The mayor has stressed that this problem is a issue across Spain and is calling for a national legal framework to tackle the issue.
Problems with these illegal holiday lets are not a recent problem, with overtourism protests erupting across Spain last summer. These apartments are blamed by locals for the housing crisis, with rental prices reaching unprecedented levels and reduced housing for locals.
De la Torre has also called for “serious consideration” of new five-star hotels opening in the city, he says this would offer locals well-paid jobs aswell as attracting high-quality tourism.
A recent study by Malaga University found that rents doubled between 2016 and 2023 in the picturesque neighbourhood of La Merced.
The move follows Barcelona, which is leading the way with tough regulations on cracking down on holiday lets. The city is currently phasing out tourist apartments, aiming to eliminate all licensed short-term rentals by 2028.
Mayor Jaume Collboni has announced that the City Council will not renew any licences for tourist-use apartments once they expire in November 2028.
