Málaga approves three-year moratorium on new hotels and tourist apartments in residential areas

Málaga is taking a further step in its strategy to control the growth of tourist accommodation across the city. The City Council plenary session has approved an amendment to the General Urban Development Plan that will prevent new hospitality uses from being automatically established on plots and inside buildings primarily intended for residential use.

The measure will affect tourist apartments, aparthotels, hostels, guest houses and hotels of all categories seeking to open on residential land. The moratorium will come into force once it is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Málaga and will last for a maximum of three years.

Residential land will be protected for housing

Until now, the city’s planning regulations allowed hospitality use to be considered compatible with residential use in certain cases. With this amendment, Málaga City Council aims to protect residential areas from new tourist projects that could increase pressure on the housing market.

The suspension will not affect projects that had already applied for a licence before the agreement is published in the provincial gazette, nor those already undergoing a planning procedure in which tourist accommodation use is expressly included.

Which areas of Málaga will be affected

The amendment will apply to areas governed by residential planning regulations. These include the historic city centre and its subzones, as well as closed-block areas, open-plan residential areas, garden city zones, detached houses, terraced housing and traditional residential neighbourhoods.

In practice, new tourist accommodation will no longer be able to open directly in these areas. To authorise this type of project, a specific urban planning amendment will be required, together with justification that the proposal serves the city’s general interest.

Restrictions on converting commercial premises into homes

The planning reform also includes new restrictions on converting commercial premises into housing. Málaga City Council will not allow these changes of use in premises located on first- and second-order streets, or in units with frontage or direct access to public squares.

Premises that remain eligible for conversion will have to meet stricter requirements on natural light, ventilation and habitability. One of the conditions is that the depth of the premises must not exceed twice the width of the façade, in order to ensure adequate natural light.

A response to tourism pressure

The decision forms part of the wider debate around the balance between tourism, housing and economic activity in Málaga. The growth of tourist accommodation has raised concern in several parts of the city, especially in central and residential neighbourhoods where access to housing has become one of the main urban challenges.

With this moratorium, Málaga expands the restrictions it had already applied to holiday rentals and extends urban planning control to other forms of accommodation, including hotels and tourist apartments.

The information comes from the article published by Málaga Hoy and from the official Málaga City Council statement on the PGOU amendment.