Kimberley Mannion
THE Mayor of Malaga has clashed with the holiday home sector on the question of the quality of tourism in Malaga.
Francisco de la Torre, the mayor of Malaga, has stated the need to regulate the growth of tourist accommodation in the city and insists that he does not want any more holiday apartments.
Speaking at a function for estate agents in the Miramar Hotel in Malaga, De la Torre said: “We do not want to increase the number of tourists but rather the quality, in their spending capacity and other investments they can attract.”
The mayor also spoke about the need to preserve Malaga as an attractive and pleasant city to live in, as well as maintaining excellence in the standard of tourism on offer, explaining that the town council wants “tourism of quality, not second rate tourism.”
In his view, this type of tourist books to stay in hotels rather than apartments.
In response, the President of the Association of Tourist Properties of Andalucia (AVVA Pro), Carlos Perez Lanzac, argued that De la Torre should take a look at some of the interiors of holiday apartments on offer in Malaga, many of which are “comparable with five star hotels”.
The AVVA President disagreed with the Malaga mayor that hotels attract a higher quality of tourism, arguing that while apartments do attract young people in search of a party who create tension between the property owners and neighbours and the ayuntamiento, they also welcome families, workers, and businessmen.
According to data from AVVA Pro, there are around 6,000 holiday apartments in Malaga city, but really only 1,619 are active the entire year.
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