The Málaga City Council has approved a three-year moratorium on new tourist accommodations in residential areas. PSOE, Con Málaga, and Vox consider the measure necessary, but insufficient and late.
The Málaga City Council has initiated an urgent three-year moratorium to halt the establishment of new tourist accommodations in residential areas. The measure, approved in an extraordinary plenary session, aims to contain the tourist pressure on housing, but the opposition has criticized the government team for its lack of ambition and delay in decision-making.
The spokesperson for PSOE, Mariano Ruiz Araujo, welcomed the initiative, although he emphasised that it comes "very late" and has generated a "pull effect" that has spiked license applications just before the suspension comes into effect. "It is a necessary measure, but it arrives too late due to the incapacity and indecision of Mayor Paco de la Torre," Ruiz Araujo stated.
Con Málaga Labels the Measure as a "Con Trick"
The spokesperson for Con Málaga, Toni Morillas, went further and described the moratorium as a "con trick". According to Morillas, the PP government team is failing to comply with the unanimously approved plenary agreement, which proposed a suspension of at least five years for all types of tourist accommodations, including hotels and apartments. "The modification is limited to residential land, allowing establishments to continue proliferating on tertiary land," she denounced.
Morillas reminded that her party has been calling for restrictions for years to curb the rising cost of housing linked to tourism. "This measure does not solve the underlying problem. The City Council is acting with band-aids when what is needed is serious and long-term planning," she added.
Vox Calls for a New PGOM Instead of "Political Band-Aids"
The spokesperson for Vox, Antonio Alcázar, focused his criticisms on the local government's improvisation. "They have called an extraordinary plenary session without a clear plan. This is a political band-aid that solves absolutely nothing," Alcázar pointed out. For Vox, the solution lies in drafting a new General Municipal Planning Plan (PGOM) that offers stable urban planning compatible with tourism development.
Alcázar insisted that the three-year moratorium is insufficient and does not address the issue of affordable housing scarcity. "Málaga needs a clear urban model, not temporary measures that create legal uncertainty," he concluded.
For the residents of Málaga, the moratorium means that, for the next three years, new licenses for tourist apartments, hostels, or guesthouses in residential buildings cannot be processed. However, applications submitted before the suspension comes into effect will continue to be processed. The opposition warns that this could have led to a surge in requests in recent weeks.
The City Council defends that the measure is a first step to protect the residential use of land and that it will be complemented by other initiatives. Nevertheless, municipal groups agree that the fundamental debate remains open: how to balance the city's tourist boom with the right to decent housing for Málaga residents.
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