Renfe has set aside €1,200,000 to work on improving five stations on the C1 Cercanías line from Malaga, including Plaza Mayor, Victoria Kent, Malaga Centro Alameda, Torreblanca and Montemar Alto. The projects are planned to deliver stations with better comfort, accessibility, safety and functionality for the over 28,500 daily passengers who use the 104 services on the line.

Upgrades progress at five Costa del Sol stations

Works already started at Plaza Mayor on July 6. Victoria Kent station activity is planned to begin in mid-July; Malaga Centro Alameda improvements follow later in July. Torreblanca and Montemar Alto will see works start progressively through the month. All sites stay operational during construction.

Focus on accessibility at Victoria Kent and Alameda stations

Victoria Kent is to receive attention to accessibility, lighting and safety in the concourse and on the platforms. There will be long-awaited works to replace damaged lights and glass, add better grip on paths, renew handrails with double grips and fit anti-slip strips on steps. Malaga Centro Alameda sees renewal of finishes; LED lighting, signage improvements, damp control and anti-slip stair features are also included in the plans.

Additional C1 route improvements underway or planned

Plans will eventually extend to other stations on the C1 route. Five halts are adapted for 100-metre trains, including Los Boliches, Carvajal, El Pinillo, Plaza Mayor and Centro Alameda. Benalmadena station platforms extend to 200 metres. Duplication of the track between the airport and Campamento Benitez is hoped to be better reliability. Other studies cover duplications in Torremolinos to El Pinillo and Benalmadena to Campo de Golf sections.

Capacity increase targets 60 per cent and 15-minute intervals

Ministry of Transport plans seek to raise C1 capacity by 60 per cent and cut train intervals from 20 to 15 minutes. Signalling and control system renewals are going ahead, and it is hoped that more than 14 million users will benefit from Malaga Cercanias improvements.

Alora double track restoration to increase capacity

Double track working returns in the Alora area from July 17 after repairs to February storm damage. One track reopened in April. Remaining tasks are to complete electrification, safety and drainage elements.

Hundreds of people have fled their homes, thousands of hectares have gone up in smoke and firefighters are now battling three major blazes as Spain’s relentless wildfire season shows no sign of easing. For the families forced to leave everything behind, it began with the smell of smoke. Within hours, roads were closing, emergency alerts were sounding on mobile phones and entire villages were being evacuated as flames raced across the countryside in Aragón.

What started as a wildfire near the Zaragoza municipality of Orés has rapidly become one of Spain’s most serious fire emergencies of the summer. More than 4,500 hectares have already been destroyed, five villages have been evacuated and the fire has reached the urban area of Asín, damaging homes and forcing residents to flee.  And just as emergency crews poured every available resource into containing the inferno, two more wildfires broke out in the Aragonese Pyrenees, stretching firefighters across multiple fronts during one of the most dangerous periods of the year. 

A race against the flames

Wildfires are nothing new in Spain, but the speed at which this emergency has unfolded has shocked even experienced firefighters. The Orés blaze spread rapidly through the Cinco Villas region, driven by soaring temperatures, strong winds and exceptionally dry conditions. Authorities activated Level 2 of Aragón’s Civil Protection Plan, calling in the Military Emergency Unit (UME) along with reinforcement crews from neighbouring regions as the scale of the fire became clear. 

For residents, there was little time to think, evacuation orders were issued for Orés, Asín, Luesia, Malpica de Arba and nearby residential facilities, including care homes, as emergency services focused on getting people to safety before the fire advanced further. While firefighters battled walls of flame, families watched from a distance, uncertain whether they would have homes to return to.

Three fires, one enormous challenge

As if the situation in Zaragoza province were not difficult enough, two new wildfires broke out in the Pyrenees, including fires in the Peña Montañesa and Castanesa areas of Huesca province. Although those fires are separate incidents, together they have placed enormous pressure on Aragón’s emergency services, forcing crews to divide personnel, aircraft and equipment across three active fronts. 

Hundreds of firefighters, supported by helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, drones and specialist military units, are working around the clock in an effort to stop the flames spreading further. But with high temperatures, low humidity and shifting winds continuing to fuel the fires, officials have warned that bringing the situation under control could take days rather than hours. 

Spain’s wildfire season is becoming increasingly unforgiving

The images emerging from Aragón are becoming an all-too-familiar sight across Spain, columns of thick smoke rising above forests. Fire crews working through the night. Villages emptied in a matter of hours as residents leave with little more than the essentials they can carry.

Each summer seems to bring another devastating wildfire, but this year’s season has been particularly relentless, with fires breaking out in several parts of the country during prolonged periods of extreme heat, for many communities, the fear is no longer simply that a wildfire might start, it is whether there will be enough time to escape if it does.

Firefighters face an impossible task

Spain has some of Europe’s most experienced wildfire crews, backed by sophisticated aircraft and highly trained emergency teams. Yet even they acknowledge there are limits when fires are driven by extreme weather. Once flames gain momentum in dry vegetation, every change in the wind can alter the direction of the fire within minutes, creating dangerous and unpredictable conditions for firefighters and residents alike. 

Protecting lives becomes the priority, homes, farmland and woodland can often only be defended where conditions allow. That is why evacuation orders are sometimes issued long before flames reach a village.

A summer that is far from over

For now, all eyes remain on Aragón, firefighters continue to work tirelessly to contain the Orés wildfire while monitoring the two new blazes in the Pyrenees, hoping that changing weather conditions will finally offer some relief.  But beyond Aragón, the latest emergency is another stark reminder that Spain’s wildfire season is far from over.

Every day of extreme heat, every gust of dry wind and every new ignition has the potential to become the next major emergency. For the hundreds of residents forced to abandon their homes this week, that reality has already arrived. And as another difficult summer unfolds, many more communities across Spain will be hoping they are not next.

Malaga City Council has confirmed one of the city’s biggest housing reforms in years, approving new planning rules that changes the future of tourist accommodation. Officials say the move is designed to protect residential housing, but the decision could also have lasting consequences for property owners, investors and anyone hoping to buy in the city.

Final approval ends months of uncertainty

Months of consultation have now come to an end after councillors officially voted to approve the change. Final approval means a blanket three-year moratorium will block all new holiday rentals (VUTs), tourist apartments, hostels, and hotels of any category on land designated for residential use across the entire city.

This new comprehensive ban steps up the city’s previous restrictions, which had already blocked new holiday rental registrations in 43 specific neighbourhoods where tourist properties accounted for more than 8 per cent of the housing stock. Existing licensed holiday rentals can continue operating under current regulations, but no additional licences will be issued on residential plots. City planners argue the measures are proportionate, legally justified and necessary to protect homes for permanent residents.

Protecting residential housing

Final approval also builds on Malaga’s hopes to reshape tourism-led development. By formally modifying the city’s General Urban Plan (PGOU), Malaga has completely eliminated the rule that previously allowed tourist accommodation as a “compatible and alternative use” on residential plots. The three-year suspension on new hotels, hostels and tourist apartment projects in these areas signals a broader, permanent effort to protect housing for permanent residents rather than expanding visitor accommodation.

The decision made by Malaga City Council is part of the bigger picture addressing growing pressure on the local housing market. Although these wider restrictions were being prepared, a final “last-minute rush” of applications was submitted to the council registry in the days leading up to the final vote, prompting a race by developers to obtain permission before the official deadline.

Housing pressures still an ongoing concern

Malaga has experienced one of Spain’s fastest increases in tourist accommodation during recent years, and rental prices have continued to climb. National figures place the city among Spain’s leading tourist destinations, with rapid growth in visitor accommodation since 2019 adding to concerns over housing affordability for local residents.

City leaders believe the restrictions will help preserve residential neighbourhoods and improve access to long-term housing. Critics, however, argue that further action may still be needed to make homes more affordable. Legal backing from the Andalucian High Court has also strengthened the council’s position, ruling that limits on tourist accommodation can be justified where residential housing is under pressure.