Trade bodies file objections to Málaga's three-year freeze on new tourist accommodation

What happened

Aehcos, the Costa del Sol hoteliers’ association, and AVVAPro, the Andalusian association of holiday-let and tourist apartment professionals, have filed objections to the three-year moratorium approved by Málaga city council on opening new tourist accommodation. Both question how effective the measure will be and argue that restricting tourist activity will not solve the city’s housing access problem. Aehcos points out that the council’s file analyses the growth of holiday-let homes without an equivalent assessment of regulated establishments, yet the suspension applies across all lodging use: hotels, aparthotels, guest houses, hostels and regulated tourist apartments. The association cites figures from the Andalusian Tourism Register for April 2026, showing 18,235 hotel bed spaces in Málaga against 64,760 in holiday-let homes.

AVVAPro is asking for a full technical, legal and economic justification, and for a review of the automatic inclusion of holiday-let homes in the planning category of lodging, as well as of the scope, duration and necessity of the licensing freeze and how it fits with measures already affecting new holiday lets in Málaga. The objections call for the methodology of the Tourist Pressure Index to be completed, for the studies used by the council to be added to the file, and for an explanation of why restrictions of the same intensity apply to neighbourhoods in very different situations, citing the EU Services Directive and Spain’s market unity legislation. The associations warn that a suspension lasting up to three years creates uncertainty for owners, managers and the small businesses that service holiday lets.

What it means for your property in Málaga

What is under discussion is the opening of new accommodation, not licences already in force. If your property is registered with the Andalusian Tourism Register and trading normally, the moratorium asks nothing of you today. The effect bites if you were planning to expand: while the freeze lasts, registering a second home as a holiday let in the city is blocked, so avoid committing to a purchase whose returns depend on obtaining a new registration, and revisit any deposit or undertaking you have already signed.

The deeper effect is on value. Fewer new registrations in the city mean less new competition for properties already on the register, which makes an existing licence more valuable. That is why the file is worth following: the criteria finally adopted, especially the methodology of the Tourist Pressure Index, will decide which neighbourhoods are capped and how tightly. If your property sits in an area flagged as high pressure, the objections period and the sector associations are the practical route to having your position considered before the rules are settled.

How I handle it in the properties I manage With a property already registered, what I protect is the registration itself: the registration number visible on every listing and the paperwork current, because losing it now cannot be undone with a fresh application. When owners ask me about buying a second place in the city, I tell them to see where the moratorium lands before they sign.