Malaga bans new tourist apartments and hotels for three years

The Malaga City Council approved a three‑year moratorium on the issuance of new licences for tourist‑use housing (VUT) in residential areas, effective the week after publication in the provincial official bulletin. The suspension covers apartments, apart‑hotels, hostels and hotels of all categories, while licences already requested or under planning before the decree are exempt. The measure, which will remain in force until July 2029 or until a permanent urban‑plan amendment, aims to protect residential land and curb a housing‑price surge of roughly 60 % over the past five years.

The city currently hosts about 10 000 tourist‑apartment places, 14 000 hotel rooms and over 64 000 VUT units. Mayor Francisco de la Torre defended the policy as the most ambitious housing protection in Spain, while opposition parties offered mixed reactions, citing concerns about investment security and adequacy of the restrictions. Similar limits have already been adopted in other Andalusian capitals such as Seville, Cadiz, Córdoba and Granada.