PSOE and Con Málaga registered their amendments this Thursday to the modification of the PGOU that suspends new licenses for tourist accommodations on residential land for three years. Both parties consider the Government team's text insufficient and propose more restrictive measures.
The deadline for submitting amendments to the modification of the General Urban Planning Plan (PGOU) of Málaga ended this Thursday with the registration of proposals from PSOE and Con Málaga. The two opposition groups agree that the text promoted by the Government team, which suspends the granting of new licenses for tourist accommodations on residential land for three years, falls short and opens gaps through which tourist pressure on the housing stock could continue to grow.
The urban modification, presented by the City Council in early July, aims to curb the proliferation of tourist apartments in the city. However, both PSOE and Con Málaga warn that the current wording leaves loopholes that could allow for a new "pull effect". The Government team has already clarified that applications submitted before the suspension comes into effect can continue to be processed if they include "substantial documentation", a concept that the opposition considers ambiguous and which, in their view, could encourage the mass submission of projects to circumvent the moratorium.
Con Málaga calls for the project to be returned and the modification to be redrafted
The party led by Toni Morillas has submitted a total amendment for the file to return to the Local Government Board and for a new text to be drafted that effectively guarantees "the protection of residential use and the right to housing". The group argues that the modification is "manifestly insufficient" and criticizes that it maintains spaces for the growth of tourist accommodations.
Among their main criticisms is that the City Council has reduced the suspension period from five to three years, which was unanimously approved in the previous June Plenary, without providing, they claim, a technical or legal justification. They also criticize that the regulation does not limit tourist accommodations on tertiary or equipment land, which would allow, according to the party, for tourist pressure to shift to other urban areas.
Furthermore, Con Málaga proposes to extend the prohibition to hotels and tourist apartments in entire buildings, to prevent the use of horizontal divisions or segregations to circumvent the regulation, to protect equipment buildings from hotel projects, and to establish that residential use has preferential status in the PGOU.
Avoiding the "pull effect" and strengthening inspection
One of the main blocks of amendments from Con Málaga focuses on the transitional regime. The party suggests that merely submitting an application before the modification comes into effect should not be enough to be exempt from the new regulation and that only those files that have consolidated urban rights in accordance with current legislation should be allowed to continue.
For its part, PSOE has also registered its amendments, focused on strengthening the inspection and control of illegal tourist homes. The socialists propose that the City Council provide more resources to the unit responsible for monitoring compliance with the regulations and that harsher penalties be established for owners operating without a license. Both parties agree that the suspension of licenses must be accompanied by measures that ensure that the tourist offer does not continue to spike through other means.
The next step falls to the Government team, which must now study the amendments, decide which ones to incorporate into the text and which to reject before calling the extraordinary Plenary in which the initial approval of the urban modification will be debated. The vote is expected to take place in the coming weeks, although no confirmed date has been set yet.
For the residents of Málaga capital, this regulation represents a respite in the fight to reclaim residential use against touristification. The suspension of licenses, if approved with the opposition's amendments, could halt the opening of new tourist apartments in neighborhoods such as the Centre, La Merced or La Malagueta, where tourist pressure has driven up rental prices and expelled residents. However, the effectiveness of the measure will depend on closing all the escape routes identified by PSOE and Con Málaga.
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