The Socialist spokesperson Mariano Ruiz Araujo has attacked Málaga's mayor, Paco de la Torre, for the city's withdrawal as a host for the 2030 World Cup, after spending €670,000 on studies.
The spokesperson for the Socialist Group in the Málaga City Council, Mariano Ruiz Araujo, denounced on Monday that the city has lost the opportunity to host matches for the 2030 World Cup due to the "disastrous management" of the PP government team led by Paco de la Torre. Wearing the Spanish national team jersey, Ruiz Araujo stood in front of the La Rosaleda stadium to lament that Málaga has given up its bid for the event, while other cities like Zaragoza have managed to maintain their candidacy.
"We are going to miss the national team in Málaga because of the mayor," stated the Socialist councillor, who recalled that in 2023, just before the municipal elections, De la Torre presented a model of the expansion of La Rosaleda. "Three years later we are starting from scratch; this speaks volumes about the incapacity of the government team," he added.
Ruiz Araujo criticised that the City Council has spent over €670,000 on a dozen projects for mobility studies, technical details, and specifications, only to start again with a new location on the grounds of the University of Málaga (UMA). "It makes a lot of sense that on a Tuesday the local government board approved the agreement between the three administrations to expand La Rosaleda, and a few days later the mayor held a press conference to withdraw from the World Cup," he pointed out.
The Socialist councillor denounced that this is not the first time the City Council has changed plans regarding the stadium's location. "In 2011 they said San Cayetano (Puerto de la Torre) was the best site; in 2023, La Rosaleda; and now, in 2026, the University. We are starting from scratch without negotiating anything with the owners of the UMA, because the land proposed by the City Council belongs to the university. It is not serious at all," he emphasised.
Ruiz Araujo also recalled that the fans of Málaga CF have booed the mayor twice for failing to bring the World Cup to the city: once at La Rosaleda and another time when the team was promoted to the First Division, during the celebration at the City Hall facade. "These are two significant calls for attention from the fans," he indicated.
The Socialist spokesperson demanded that the government team "provide certainty to the fans, who need it, as well as knowing the project in detail, the venues, the funding, and what the formula will be for managing the future stadium, in addition to knowing what will happen with the current Rosaleda." "We want certainty and a project; the people of Málaga no longer want more disrespect, nor for the hopes of an entire generation of fans and many young people and children who wanted to see the national team in their city to be toyed with," he pointed out.
Ruiz Araujo criticised that De la Torre "blamed the roundabout at Martín Carpena, and even Carolina España (Vice President of the Andalusian Government) corrected him, saying that the roundabout was not the cause of the withdrawal from the World Cup. Zaragoza has planned well and has been able to do it; we have not, that is the reality," he concluded.
The debate over the venue for the 2030 World Cup comes at a time of euphoria following the Spanish national team's victory in the World Cup, which has resonated throughout Spain. Málaga, which initially appeared as one of the candidates, has been left out after the City Council's decision to withdraw its candidacy, causing discontent among fans and the opposition.
On another note, the Councillor for Tourism and Human Resources, Jacobo Florido, recently held a meeting with the General Coordinator of the City Council of Seville, Lola Vallejo, at the Casona. During the meeting, Vallejo expressed interest in understanding how the moratorium decrees on tourist housing (VUT) and the three-year precautionary suspension that comes into effect in Málaga, which prevents the construction of tourist apartments or hotels on residential land until the PGOU is modified, are being applied.
Both councillors also discussed the tourist tax, the application and management of which corresponds to the autonomous communities. The previous Tourism Minister, Arturo Bernal, was not in favour of its implementation in Andalusia, and now Vox, which has taken over the portfolio, is also not inclined to do so. In the Málaga City Council, motions against this tax have even been presented.
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