The Málaga municipality of Comares, with around 1,345 inhabitants, will expand its banking services from October 1 with a 24-hour ATM and in-person service from Cajamar in the Balcón de la Axarquía square.
Comares, one of the smallest villages in the Axarquía, will have a 24-hour operational ATM and in-person service from Cajamar staff in the Balcón de la Axarquía square starting October 1. The agreement, announced by the Town Hall after discussions with the entity, aims to ensure that residents can carry out basic transactions without having to travel to nearby towns, as reported by Diario Sur.
The Town Hall, governed by a coalition of PSOE and PP, has confirmed that the transition period will last throughout September, so the new service model will begin on October 1. The ATM will be available continuously, while in-person service will be provided from 8:30 AM to 2:00 PM, although the municipal announcement does not specify the exact days of the week.
“We continue to work to guarantee and improve basic financial services in our municipality,” the Town Hall stated when announcing the agreement.
This measure comes in the context of rural financial exclusion. According to data from the Junta de Andalucía and the Provincial Council in 2023, there were around 43,000 residents in 27 municipalities in the province of Málaga without access to ATMs in their own towns, particularly affecting the Serranía de Ronda and the Alta Axarquía.
Comares has 1,345 inhabitants according to the Institute of Statistics and Cartography of Andalucía, with an average age of 53 years and 32.2% of residents over 65 years old. Additionally, 603 residents live in scattered locations, which adds a territorial component to access essential services.
In Andalucía, in 2023, there were more than 138,000 people in 177 municipalities without an ATM. The Provincial Council of Málaga allocated about 132,000 euros that year to install ATMs in nine small municipalities, including Arenas, Canillas de Albaida, Cútar, and Macharaviaya, in the Axarquía. The provincial president, Francisco Salado, defended these measures as a tool against depopulation.
The Minister of Economy, Carolina España, has also advocated for the need to prevent certain individuals, “either due to age or the locality in which they reside,” from being excluded from the new digital banking model. With the agreement in Comares, the village will maintain both permanent access to an ATM and a form of in-person service from October, two key provisions in a municipality where nearly one in three residents is over 65 years old.
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