Mayor Ángeles Muñoz highlights in the State of the City Debate the employment records and the investment of €200 million in facilities. The municipality reduces unemployment by 13% year-on-year and reaches 87,179 contributors.
Marbella recorded 5,863 unemployed people at the end of August, the lowest figure in its history, according to data presented by the mayor, Ángeles Muñoz, during the State of the City Debate. The mayor emphasized that the municipality has achieved a year-on-year reduction of 13% in the number of unemployed, with 877 fewer unemployed than a year ago.
In terms of affiliation, the locality reached 87,179 contributors to Social Security in August, the highest for an August since statistics began. Muñoz also highlighted the record number of self-employed workers, with 15,830 in July and August, and the existence of 20,829 companies in the municipality, of which 35% of the new ones created in the province of Málaga belong to Marbella.
“We are the Andalusian city with more than 40,000 inhabitants with the best employment figures, with a historic unemployment rate of 7.37 percent, much lower than the national average.”
The mayor compared the evolution over the last three years: 2,623 fewer unemployed, 8,210 more contributors, and 1,660 more self-employed, representing a 30% reduction in unemployment, a 10% growth in affiliation, and an 11.8% increase in self-employed workers. In terms of training and employment, she estimated 6,800 training places offered during the legislature and 5,700 job opportunities channelled through the municipal portal, used by over a thousand companies. Job fairs have offered around 6,000 job positions.
The tourism sector also reported record figures. In June 2026, Marbella's hotels employed 6,760 workers, compared to 3,662 in the same month of 2025, an 84.6% increase. In July, 6,550 employees were reached (+54.3%), and in August, 5,680 (+28.3%). Between January and July, the international travel market grew by 8.1% and overnight stays by 9.2%.
Muñoz listed several hotel projects underway: the rehabilitation of the old Hotel Incosol, with an estimated €26 million; the future Four Seasons Marbella, with a budget of €650 million and an estimated 3,000 jobs; and the expansion of Puerto de La Bajadilla. She also mentioned the municipality's incorporation into UN Tourism, the 66 certified tourism resources and services (38 in quality and 28 in sustainability), and recognitions such as Best European Destination to Travel in 2024 or its inclusion by American Express among the ten global destinations to visit in 2026.
In the urban planning chapter, the council definitively approved the General Municipal Planning Plan (PGOM), after obtaining more than 60 favourable sector reports. The document recognizes more than 53 million square meters of urban land, compared to 40 million in the 1986 plan, and reserves 20% of the planned housing at regulated prices. The mayor defended that the new planning “provides legal and urban security and allows for the planning of Marbella's development for the coming decades.”
The mayor summarised the legislature with €200 million in investment in public facilities aimed at 90 major projects, and stated that Marbella “faces its future as a great opportunity” and that “today it is a locality that has nothing to do with its past.”
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