The arrival of mega yachts at the port of Malaga doubles in one year

'Kaos', 'Dragonfly', 'Yas', 'Tatoosh'... These are the names of some of the world's largest private yachts, which have recently made a stop at the port of Málaga, and which SUR has been consistently reporting on these pages. Visibly, the occupancy of the so-called IGY Málaga Marina (the marina of docks 1 and part of 2) has been constant in recent months. And now, the activity report of this facility, which this newspaper has accessed, shows it.

Since the end of summer to date, the marina has reached "exceptional levels" of activity, according to data provided by the concessionaire company. Occupancy has reached 100% almost throughout the autumn. "Due to this circumstance, mooring space had to be arranged at other commercial docks of the port," they admit.

But even so, it has not been possible to satisfy all requests. "The demand has been such that, at certain times, we have had to redirect vessels, which were anchored waiting to access IGY Málaga Marina, to other ports due to the lack of available space," these sources warn, considering this as "a clear indicator of the operational strength and strategic role our marina plays as a reference point for megayacht traffic" in the Strait area.

Increasingly larger boats

In addition to the demand, another notable circumstance in the autumn-winter 2025/26 season is that there is "a clear jump in the average and total size of the yachts received," which are increasingly larger. Thus, there has been a 74% increase in average lengths, while the total accumulated length also increased by 22%.

"Málaga is now a key port and is well positioned on the map for owners and captains, who used to always go to Palma and Barcelona"

Sasha Romashova

Commercial Director of the megayacht marina

The evolution is even more evident in the high-value segment (those of 50 meters or more), where the greatest progress is concentrated. Thus, stays of yachts over 50 meters increase by 156%. But those over 80 meters increase fourfold; and those over 100 meters double. "This fact confirms a much stronger capture of large lengths, precisely the most strategic due to their economic impact and positioning for the port of Málaga."

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Sasha Romashova, commercial director of the megayacht marina of Málaga, comments: "This autumn we are experiencing an incredible level of activity, reaching 100% occupancy for several weeks and the demand is so high that we had to use the ADL dock (at the Levante dike) to accommodate vessels." This facility is granted temporarily whenever docks 1 and 2 are full, which happens more and more frequently.

The executive cites other factors that illustrate the growth in requests, such as the fact that some boats have remained anchored, waiting for space; and some could not be accommodated and were redirected to other marinas, such as Gibraltar. "All this clearly reflects that Málaga is now a key port for traffic in the Andalusia region, and is beginning to enter the map of decisions of owners and captains, who historically always went to Palma and Barcelona; Málaga is now well positioned."

Necessary expansion

Although Romashova does not discuss the possibility of an expansion of the marina, or the technical formulas to make it possible, she does warn that the lack of space is evident and the marina "has become too small, not only due to the increase in the number of vessels but also in the lengths of those that come."

Regarding the forecasts for the winter, the representative of the concessionaire company explains that in December and January occupancy will decrease, as this is when the season starts in the Caribbean and many boats are located in this part of the world. However, during this period, occupancy will also increase compared to previous years.