Laurence Dollimore
A HUGE protest is being planned by ‘fed-up’ locals in Malaga who say they are tired of ‘over tourism, s**t salaries and property exploitation.’
In a post on Instagram, a tenant support organisation in the city set the date for the ‘big demonstration’ as June 29.
It follows an enormous similar protest in the Canary Islands at the weekend, which saw more than 60,000 take to the streets.
The organisation, Sindicato de Inquilinas de Málaga, wrote on Instagram: “Malaga has become an unlivable city for those of us who live in it. IT’S OVER! WE WANT A MALAGA TO LIVE AND NOT TO SURVIVE…
“Beyond impotent nostalgia, it is essential to rebuild neighborhood networks, the relationships of care that sustain at risk people. THIS WAS A NEIGHBORHOOD BEFORE, and it will be again!”
It added: “The problem is well known: touristification and plundering of the territory, exploitation of housing, work and life. S**t salaries, s**t cohabitation and s**t rents. We are clear: IF I CAN’T PAY I WILL NOT PAY!
“We know that there are many of us who are fed up and determined to defend a friendly, livable city, THE CITY OF THE NEIGHBOURS!
“On JUNE 29, the Malaga Tenants Union calls for a GREAT PROTEST for decent housing and against the processes of touristification and impoverishment of life. On JUNE 29, it all begins.”
And they have a point in all that they say but without the tourists Malaga would return to the sleepy provincial capital it was . There is hardly a city in the world where the tourist does not annoy the local or the Airbnb flat distorts the rental market and pits investor against home dweller . The tourists want to come , the digital nomads want to come . Do you really want to turn them away in the pursuit of a rather mythical golden past ? Were things that good in the days before the Anglo Saxon wave submerged you . What you are complaining about now is what people always complain about , low salaries , high rents and a bad life . Chasing out the tourists will not change any of this for the better and it will impoverish the city . Certainly some control is now essential , for example a strict limit on the number of Airbnb rentals but otherwise Malaga should be proud of its success in attracting people to visit and live.