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HOTEL managers on the Costa del Sol renewed their calls for a 3rd lane on A7. They warned that Malaga’s chronic congestion problems now threaten the region’s capacity to cope with record-breaking visitor numbers.
Aehcos, the Costa del Sol hotel association, said congestion on the A7 has become ‘unmanageable’ in both the eastern and western stretches of the province.
The group said that the A7 desperately requires a third lanes in the areas around Puerto Banus, San Pedro and Velez Malaga in the West and the routes leading into Malaga in the East from Rincon de la Victoria and Velez Malaga.
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Local mayors have agreed with the request and warn that long bottlenecks at peak times are routine, with traffic jams extending across important commuter and tourist routes.
Hoteliers have also criticized the delays in the construction of the northern access road for Malaga Airport. The project was awarded in 2018, but has yet to be started, after being redesigned and annulled.
The report also highlighted other blackspots such as the MA-20, which is clogged between Malaga, Torremolinos and Rio Real. It also called for the reconfiguration of access roads along the Marbella section of the A7, around El Rosario, Los Monteros and Rio Real.
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Aehcos noted similar problems along the eastern Costa del Sol. A long-planned upgrade of Caleta de Velez is still on paper.
Other projects, such as improvements to the A-44 Granada–Costa Tropical motorway also remain stalled, despite holiday-weekend gridlock becoming an annual occurrence.
The hotel industry, which has been calling for the Costa del Sol coastal rail since the 1990s, says that the region’s passenger numbers are outgrowing the current network.
The demand is for a clear schedule and a funding commitment, as well as improvements to the current Cercanias service (short-distance train), including increased frequencies and carriages that have a greater capacity.
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The association noted that Malaga received almost 14.4 million visitors in 2024, ploughing around €21 billion into the economy and creating 140,000 jobs.
The report warns, however, that infrastructure for transport has not kept up with the demand.
The argument is that the lack of public transportation options in some parts of the province has a negative impact on residents and businesses and limits access to employment.
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Spain’s slowness in delivering EU-funded projects has also been criticised.
Aehcos reported that only 63% the EU-funded transport infrastructure funds had been spent, the lowest percentage in the Union. Portugal and Italy have both achieved 100%.
Aehcos represents more than 94,000 hotel beds on the Costa del Sol across 346 accommodation businesses, and regularly lobbies for infrastructure improvements to support tourism — the backbone of the regional economy.
The Olive Press offers more Marbella News.
