ANDALUCIA’S tourism boom is showing no signs of slowing, with shocking new figures revealing the region now boasts more than 700,000 tourist beds – its all-time high.
According to Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE), the milestone has been fuelled by the explosive rise of holiday rentals, with the Costa del Sol alone accounting for nearly 701,000 beds.
That is a 6% jump in just one year – almost 40,000 extra beds added since 2024. A decade ago, before short-term rentals were officially regulated, the total number was barely a third of today’s figure.
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Accommodation options now cover everything from luxury five-star hotels and beachfront resorts to tourist apartments, casas rurales, campsites, and holiday homes – with more than 95,000 registered establishments across Malaga province alone.
The coast is king, with around 630,000 beds dotting the shoreline, compared to just 70,000 inland.
Hotels may have been the backbone of the industry, but they are no longer the biggest players. Malaga has 556 hotels providing roughly 106,000 beds, mostly in four-star establishments.
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Luxury tourism is also booming. Five-star hotels have grown by almost 9%, thanks to huge projects in hotspots like Marbella, where Waldorf Astoria and Four Seasons are building multi-million-euro resorts.
But it is the holiday rental boom that has truly reshaped the market. These properties now account for the majority of available beds – sparking worries about housing shortages, soaring rents, and strains on local communities.
Tensions are rising too. Regional authorities have clashed with Madrid over plans for a national short-term rental registry, while critics warn not all registered homes are even in use, and enforcement is struggling to keep up with the boom.
Tourism chiefs argue the surge proves Andalucia’s worldwide appeal, but admit there are challenges ahead – from infrastructure pressure to tough competition from rival Mediterranean destinations like Greece, Turkey, and Croatia.
With visitors continuing to flock in, one question looms large: has Andalucia finally reached its breaking point?
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