Málaga no es ya para los malagueños: la huida de los locales

Málaga: el turismo expulsa a los malagueños del centro

The old town of Málaga no longer smells like traditional roasted coffee; it smells like avocado brunch. Traditional bakeries have been replaced by real estate offices with English signs, and neighborhood bars by Irish pubs. This phenomenon is not accidental: Andalusia was poor for a century, and the Malagueños emigrated while wealthy tourists enjoyed their beaches. Now, money has arrived to stay, and the natives cannot compete with it.

The causes are multiple. Some point fingers at politicians, who allowed an intensive tourist model without limits. Others blame the residents themselves for selling their businesses for a quick profit when the opportunity arose. There is also a third analysis that sees the problem in economic monoculture: a country living solely off tourism is exposed to crises that sweep everything away.

The discussion includes an uncomfortable factor: the purchase of housing by foreigners, which turns the center into a luxury colony. But it is also recalled that Madrid and Barcelona have been like this for two decades, suggesting Málaga is merely trinc a path already traveled.

Meanwhile, prices continue to rise and the locals move to the periphery. The striking fact is that the city depended on tourism for a century, and now that it finally has income, it is losing its inhabitants. As the popular saying goes, there's silver lining to every cloud, but here, the bad is proving expensive.