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Tourist flats in Spain cause long-term rents to surge by more than 30%, study finds
A STUDY has found tourists flats in Spain have caused long-term rents to surge by over 30%.
Researchers from the University of Malaga have revealed tourist flats have pushed up rent prices by 33% in busy areas.
The study called the situation ‘proof of the power of capitalism’ and urged for ‘regulation in the short term to guarantee access to dignified housing.’
Photo: Cordon Press
It is part of a wider study known as ‘The Impact of Tourist Lets in Malaga Province: Analysis and Suggestions from a Public Law Perspective.’
The research used data from 2016 to 2023, comparing Sevilla and Malaga, both cities with a high number of tourist flats, with Jaen and Teruel, where the rate is much lower.
They also carried out interviews with residents of Malaga city centre, the main focus of the study, between November 2023 and February 2024.
It revealed that when neighbourhoods have over 10% of their accommodation dedicated to tourism, the price of long-term rentals shoots up.
In Malaga, it has gone up some 31% and in Sevilla, this figure goes up to 33%.
Meanwhile researchers found that if the same pressure existed in Jaen and Teruel, the price of housing would rise 44% and 46% respectively.
“We know that the rise in rental prices is pushed by many factors, not just tourism. In fact, it wouldn’t go down automatically if tourist flats suddenly disappeared.
“But this study does reveal a strong relationship between tourist flats and rising rent prices,” says Enrique Navarro, director of the Andalucian Institute of Research and Innovation in Tourism Malaga (IATUR).
They carried out the study alongside the Institute of Legal Researchers on Government and Land (I-INGOT).
The situation is most striking in the Malaga neighbourhood or La Merced, home to the city’s most tourist flats.
There, the cost per m2 has gone from €8.8 in 2016, when the area only had 5% tourist flats to €18 in 2024, when the amount of holiday accommodation had shot up to 40%.
In comparison, the rate has only gone up by €1 in other areas such as Ciudad Jardin and Parque del Sur, where the amount of tourist flats is just 0.6%.
Photo: Cordon Press
“The situation is worrying for urban areas popular with tourists like Malaga and Sevilla and leads to protests,” said the study.
Last November, some 13,000 people took to the streets in both cities, demanding an end to soaring rents which price locals out of their own neighbourhoods.
“We can confirm there is a strong correlation between the price of rents and the amount of tourist accommodation in Malaga,” the study concluded.
They warned against the rising number of holiday flat licenses, while recognising the efforts of local councils to slow their growth.
In Malaga, they have limited licenses to flats which have separate entrances.
They have also banned new licenses in 43 areas where tourist lets exceed 8% of the total accommodation.
To decide which areas, the council also analysed which neighbourhoods had a lower quality of life for locals including noise issues and the disappearance of traditional commerce such as hardware shops.
The research also revealed that despite these measures, tourism has not stopped growing in Malaga since the pandemic.
This intensification is worse in the old town, where it is also affecting neighbouring areas.
“It’s a logical reality that living spaces are a good to be sold in our liberal market, but only considering them as money makers is questionable and society is beginning to call it out,” the study concluded.
Idealista’s latest statistics reveal that Malaga’s property market is at an ‘all time high’ at €3.215 per m2, more than double the rates of a decade ago (€1.535).
The rental market is also rising, with m2 costing on average €15, some 12.5% more than a year ago and over 50% more than a decade ago when it was €6.8.
AFTER a balmy start to the year winter cold has come to stay in Malaga with falling temperatures this week.
According to the Spanish meteorological agency (Aemet) they will drop to just 4C.
Tomorrow, January 14, will see lows of 7C and highs of 15C, with strong wind in comparison to the rest of the week, sun and little chance of rain.
The next day will bring a cold streak, with lows of 4C and highs of 17C, followed by a warmer day on Thursday with highs of 19C and lows of 7C.
As we enter into the weekend, temperatures will become more stable with lows of 8C on Friday and Saturday, with highs of 19C.
However, the weekend will also see clouds coming in, getting heavier on Sunday for a grey, calm day.
MALAGA’S public prosecution office has opened an investigation into a Torremolinos club accused of an anti-gay hate crime.
It comes after Casa Fatima promoted it’s inaugural event with an Instagram post banning ‘f**s’ from entering.
The office will investigate whether the organisers are culpable of denying services on the grounds of sexual identity, a crime under article 512 of Spain’s legal code.
The public prosecution office will also investigate if the ‘dignity’ of homosexual people could have been damaged by the advert.
Torremolinos mayor, Margarita del Cid also reported the club for slander and hate crimes after she was ‘attacked’ by the promoters via a private message on Instagram.
Photo: Cordon Press
According to the mayor, she was called a ‘b**ch’ and urged defended their rules, the promoters suggesting she should support them as a Catholic.
“We don’t want sick or bad people..f**s or transexuals,” they said.
The ‘Noche Superstar’ event, which has now been cancelled, was due to take place on January 18 at the Calle Cruz venue.
However, the organisers plan to move the party to Malaga capital.
The club, a luxury Moroccan venue, has also made its Instagram account private following the backlash.
Del Cid said:“We are not going to tolerate these attitudes. Hate and homophobia has no place here and we are going to do everything we can to stop this event and any activity of any club that displays such shameful attitudes.”
Crime & Law
Italian mob boss from feared Camorra mafia arrested in Spain’s Marbella ‘while walking with his wife’
A HIGH-RANKING capo from Italy’s feared Camorra has been arrested on the Costa del Sol along with his son and son-in-law.
Officers from Spain’s elite Udyco anti-drug unit along with their Italian counterparts swooped on Ciro Marigliano while he was walking down the street with his wife in Marbella.
The mob boss, wanted since July 2024 for attempted murder, had been living openly in the millionaires’ playground of Marbella, highlighting once again how Costa del Sol’s luxury developments continue to attract Europe’s most dangerous criminals.
The police teams had managed to keep on his tail after he’d made several manoeuvres to shake them after he had left his home in a leafy suburb to head to the city centre.
His arrest led police to two more Camorra members within hours, all wanted for various crimes including gun running.
Stanislao Marigliano and Michele Sannino, both wanted for serious international drug trafficking offences, were picked up in follow-up raids.
The mob boss’s son, Stanislao Marigliano, faces a prison sentence of 30 years for attempted murder after gunning a man down.
Meanwhile Sannino, the son-in-law, is facing a 20-year prison sentence for drug trafficking and tobacco smuggling.
He distributed his ill-gotten goods throughout Italy through a criminal organisation based in Sant Giovanni.
The trio, who were all related to each other, were considered ‘made men’ in Italian mafia culture.
“The arrest of three dangerous fugitives has dealt a serious blow to organised crime, achieved through meticulous investigative work and extraordinary collaboration between Naples police and Spanish authorities,” said Matteo Piantedosi, Italy’s Interior Minister.
“It highlights once again the state’s ability to combat even the most insidious criminal organisations effectively.”
The arrests come amid growing concerns about the Costa del Sol’s attraction for international criminals. Just days ago, an Irish fugitive wanted for murder was captured in nearby Calahonda, Mijas, after attempting to flee from Policia Local.
The suspect had been hiding in the Calypso urbanisation and was subject to a European Arrest Warrant for both murder and homicide charges in Ireland.
These latest arrests highlight the ongoing battle against organised crime on the Costa del Sol, with authorities continuing to crack down on international fugitives who view the region as a safe haven.
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