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New projects to be carried out might create more than 14,000 hotel places which would raise the current supply by 10% - throughout the last ten years 50,000 new places have been formed

The Registro Turístico de Andalucía disposes right now of 76 new hotel projects for Malaga, which could add 14,289 places to the existing 150,000 beds. This means an increase of 10% would be attained, if all the projects were actually carried out. These numbers position the province of Malaga on top of Andalucia, followed closely by Cadiz with 60 new complexes and 13,021 places. Needless to say, this information proves apparently that there is still interest in enlarging the tourist industry, even though the sources emphasise that despite the fact of being registered, the projects will not necessarily be realised.

Is now the best moment to invest in the hotel business? Does the Costa del Sol need more hotels? The regional officer for the hotel and restaurant industry of the labour union Comisiones Obreras thinks the answer to both questions may be negative after all. According to him, it is possible that some of the projects stem from the period before the crisis and in any case, the hotel industry of the Costa does not need to grow much more because of the decline in utilisation during the previous years.

In the last decade, nearly 50,000 new beds were created and even though the average numbers of overnight stays, tourists and expenses have grown, the establishments’ occupation has decreased constantly. At the moment, there are beds of each category and segment available all year long, so a logical consequence would be to build singular establishments that bring diversity on the market, like small-dimensioned rural or charming hotels in the interior of the province. Moreover, another problem is the dependence on the seasonal tourism, which provokes that a large number of complexes along the coast close during various months of the year, for example all-inclusive hotels which often only open 4 or 5 months (in summer, Malaga airport duplicates its traffic). This can lead to depreciation and causes low quality employment.

The profundity of the economical crisis in the UK, where most tourists on the Costa del Sol come from, has put the Andalusian hotel sector in a precarious situation. Particularly luxury establishments and 5 star hotels are suffering seriously, not only due to the known consequences of the economical crisis, but also owing to the weakness of the entreprises which administrate them, since most of them are not integrated in big companies and have for this reason more difficulties making contracts with the tour operators.

Málaga’s mayor, Francisco de la Torre, accompanied by his councillors Juan Ramón Casero (Mobility), Raúl López (Universal Accessibility) and Carolina España (Economy) presented today the access requirements for new transport certificates that will cover the necessity of mobility of two significant user groups. He announced that the access conditions to obtain such a ticket for persons with a disability equal or superior to 33 % will improve and the so-called “PMR ticket” will be valid for all local EMT buses, containing 50 rides or the multiple of this amount.

This new ticket is subsidised by 50% by the Area of Universal Accessibility (Área de Accesibilidad Universal), so that a person who applies for it will receive an aid equal to the half of the cost. The ticket price will be 16,12 €, resulting in an amount of approximately 0,32 € per ride. The innovation benefits about 1300 disabled persons that can profit immediately by the new ticket.

On the other hand, the mayor announced the implementation of the “Employment Help Ticket” (“Tarjeta Ayuda Empleo”), which will be totally free of charge. The beneficiaries of this coupon are unemployed inhabitants of Málaga who are registered in programs of the active job-seeking IMFE / MALAGA EMPLEO. According to estimations, more than 1000 persons will be able to benefit immediately from this new ticket that includes 50 rides per capita. The purpose is to help unemployed people who are searching actively for work or who take part in training courses.

There were seven percent more Irish arrivals, year on year in January

Figures for arrivals at Málaga Airport for January show a 7.2% year on year increase for Irish travellers, while all other nationalities saw a fall in numbers. The data from the Spanish Airports Authority AENA, shows 13,288 Irish arrivals at the airport last month, 896 more than in January 2008.

There was a 13.2% reduction in the number of British arrivals at 101,305, and a 27.2% fall in National travellers at 74,294, more than 27,000 fewer than a year ago.

The number of Germans was down 19.2% at 21,648, and Dutch down 10.7% at 9,106. French down 14.4% at 8,853, Belgians down 18.9% at 7,543, Swiss down 4.14% at 6,682, Danish down 23.8% at 5,312, Italians down 39.8% at 4,760, Norwegians down 29% at 4,444, Finnish down 2.7% at 4,138 and Swedish down 60.3% at 2,064.

The only tram that Malaga has ever had in its history (which was working until December 31, 1961) is being restored by a group of workers of the EMT (the main transport company in Malaga).

Yestarday morning the old tram was picked up from Malaga’s promenade by a huge crane.

This is the last tram left in Malaga and it is the unique silent witness to the history of this kind of transportation which operated in Malaga until the early 1960s. It has been for over 40 years one of the most representative symbols of the capital, parked during 57 years at Pablo Picasso’s promenade. But yesterday, the old tram began a new journey in order to recover its original state after the damage caused by the passage of years and some irresponsible people.

After a long negotiation between the residents of the area and the Malaga City Hall they finally decided to train a group of employees of the municipal transport company (EMT) to recover the history of public transport in the city.

But it won’t be an easy task because of the current damages: wind has curved the wooden sides, the floor was fired by vandals recently, some regulators were lost and other important pieces are broken. Fortunately, the main engine is almost in perfect conditions.

A huge crane was needed to avoid any damage while moving the tram. It’s already inside the EMT’s garage, where it will be repaired. The repair works will last for at least one year or year and half and its final destination remains a mystery.

The relocation of the historic tram has changed the current landscape of this area of Malaga city. That’s why some people is already thinking about repacling the old tram by another typical monument of the city, perhaps a jabeque (a small fishing boat) is the best option.

Related information
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The City of Malaga is studying the prospect of installing Wi-Fi access around the city and has received a blow from Spain’s telecom governing body, the Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones (Telecommunications Market Commission). The proposal was to install access points inside municipal facilities with short-range access (30-100 meters), making this access limited to those physically present inside the buildings. It would consist of free and unlimited access to all city websites and limited general internet access, with security blocking against file-sharing programs. Those wishing to access the internet for mail, chat or other general-purpose browsing would have to request a time-limited username and password.

The Commission’s 8-page response includes some of the following:

• the requirement that the City of Malaga be registered as an operator, since they would be providing internet service via username/password
• providing free access would endanger the nature of open-market comptetition to a similar service
• limiting the offered service to accessing only municipal pages would not be prohibited, since this has an EU precedent from a similar request granted to the City of Prague

Nevertheless, Malaga’s mayor Francisco de la Torre is resisting the negative response and has committed to study out all possible legal possibilities of the initiative, determined to succeed. He mentioned another initiative that has begun called the WiMAX project, which would offer internet access for a cost, but which would greatly surpass the speed of simple Wi-Fi. (WiMAX is full-on broadband access using wireless radio frequencies.) WiMAX is emerging in other areas with test beds in cities such as Amsterdam (offered in the city’s centre for 20€ / month) and Portland, Oregon (USA), a key city in the international WiMAX Forum.

Discussion of a WiMAX solution brings to mind questions about the cost of new wireless cards and the feasibility for visitors, as this technology is too new for many consumers to have their laptops outfitted already. Of course, the mayor didn’t offer anything to assuage these issues. We can only assume those concerns will be addressed after a contract is signed.