This tiny Spanish town has become Andalusia’s tourism boom personified. (Image: Getty)
It’s many Brits’ dream – escaping the grey skies and cold seas of the UK for the coast, to live in a picturesque white-walled town with the beach right at your fingertips.
This dream has become a reality for thousands of from across the world who have descended on a small town over the past eight years.
Since 2017, the population of Torrox, a stunning spot on the , has risen by a third, with 5,815 newcomers representing 100 different nationalities, including from the UK and Germany.
Recent figures show that the town currently has 1,042 homes registered for – around 5% of properties.
While there are currently no limits on tourist housing, Torrox’s mayor, Oscar Medina, asserted that the population increase is being handled sustainably to benefit everyone.
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Boasting over five miles of coastline, a surge in property prices has been witnessed in Torrox. (Image: Getty)
Boasting over five miles of coastline, a surge in has been witnessed and two new urban projects are currently on the table – at Calaceite and Puerto Narixa.
“This sustainable development has been important, but we cannot grow at any price and have to analyse multiple factors, including that of tourist housing,” Mr Medina told .
Jose Antonio Perez, CEO of Real Estate Business School (Rebs), added that a balance is being achieved, with growth developed alongside services, job opportunities and housing.
“Torrox has been growing in seasonal and residential tourism since the 80s, including abandoned mini-farmhouses converted into rural homes and deteriorated village houses rehabilitated by non-residents who use and rent them.”
Mr Perez does not see a rise in tourist accommodation becoming an issue: “Torrox has balanced the tourist and residential market for decades, along with [that] of village and rural houses,” he added.
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In January, it was revealed Mayor Medina revealed a plan to build some 4,600 new homes (Image: Getty)
“It has completed the most new homes in the province along with renovated properties attracting residents from Malaga City and neighbouring municipalities, due to housing availability, quality of life and prices”.
He added: “These tourist homes do not harm Torrox at all, since they attract employment, talent, consumption, and taxes provided that and services grow and adapt at the same time, which is happening.”
In January, it was shared that Mayor Medina revealed a plan to develop more than 300 hectares of land on the beachfront in the Calaceite area of Torrox with the construction of some 4,600 new homes, a shopping zone, a leisure centre and a marina with 872 berths.
“Calaceite is going to become one of the most spectacular areas in southern ,” the Mayor claimed, adding that the project will be a reality within a maximum of ten years, according to .
This project in Calaceite will join the 1,200 new properties in the Puerto Narixa area, surrounded by 425,000 metres of green areas and a shopping centre.