Carlos Carrera Lopez has long lived in central Málaga but fears his neighbourhood in the southern Spanish city is slowly disappearing as holiday rentals and mass tourism drive residents out. The 53-year-old doctor, who heads the Old Town residents' association, told AFP he is fighting to keep the area inhabited, warning of a "mass exodus" caused by mounting tourist pressure.
The same trend is playing out across Spain, fuelling protests and a general strike over housing affordability, as the issue became a key battleground ahead of an early general election on November 29. Opinion polls suggest the conservative opposition is well placed to unseat Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who has been in office since 2018.S1
Málaga, with a population of around 600,000, welcomed a record 1.83 million visitors in 2025. In some streets nearly one in two homes is used for short-term tourist accommodation, according to national statistics institute INE. The city had more than 8,000 tourist apartments last year, up 40 percent from 2020, making it Spain's second-largest market for this type of accommodation, behind Madrid but ahead of Barcelona.S1
Although tourist rentals account for only a relatively small share of the city's housing stock, they have added to pressure on rents, which have more than doubled over the past decade. Spain's average gross monthly salary is about €2,460 ($2,730), while renting a 50-square-metre apartment in Málaga cost an average of €835 in October, according to property portal Idealista.S1
Residents describe the toll on daily life. Francisco Lopez, who runs a food bank, laments the gradual disappearance of neighbourhood life, replaced by cleaners carrying sheets to prepare holiday apartments. Two months ago he was forced to leave a flat he had rented for 16 years, and he suspects his landlord intends to turn it into a tourist rental. Monica Reino, who has lived near the Plaza de la Merced for seven years, says half of the 20 flats in her building are now tourist apartments.S1
