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Ignacio Lillo
Malaga
Friday, 6 June 2025, 11:35
Mayor Francisco de la Torre is leading Malaga city council's initiative to build thousands of micro-apartments, ranging from 30 to 40 square metres, with affordable rental prices. The goal is to help young people, in particular, access their first home. According to initial estimates, around 2,000 units could be built on the few plots of land still available. It didn't take long for the proposal to become a topic of partisan debate. Ideally, everyone should have plenty of space at their disposal - but reality is what it is, and that's why I believe the proposal is reasonable.
Above all, opposing an emergency housing measure like this reveals a serious lack of awareness about the reality many people face in the city, and such criticism even comes across as elitist.
In the end, the point is to give as many people as possible a minimum amount of living space so they can begin building their lives with dignity.
In Malaga, the idea of micro-apartments is nothing new: studios are popping up everywhere, and recently, dozens of commercial premises have been converted into housing (usually two or three units from a former shop, workshop, or office), selling for around 150,000 euros.
So we're not reinventing the wheel here - just adopting the format, but with affordable rental prices. And I'll go even further. Flat-sharing, which used to be unusual in Malaga just a few years ago, is now common.
Depending on the area, people are paying around 500 euros for a single room, sharing the flat with two or three others.
Those, ironically speaking, are the lucky ones. Sadly, it's increasingly common to see couples with young children living in a single room in a shared flat -whether it's young parents unable to move out on their own and living with grandparents or migrants sharing space with family or fellow compatriots.
In some cases, the private space available for two or three people doesn't exceed 20 square metres.
And that's not even counting those who sleep in industrial warehouses, campervans and vans, campsites and a wide range of improvised living situations caused by unaffordable housing prices and a near-total lack of rental options.
In an ideal world, with abundant land and without the demographic pressure Malaga is facing, every family would have the right to at least two bedrooms and 90 square metres of living space.
But given the current situation, many will see the word 'micro-apartments' and read 'mini-palaces' instead...
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