Outrage in Malaga as tiny ‘living capsules’ being promoted as permanent homes amid crisis

A property developer’s plans to open a “hostel” of tiny living capsules in – consisting of just a bed to sleep in and a shared kitchen and community area – has been met with outrage online.

Superlativo 8 is hoping to open its ‘hostel’ in June next year in Huelin, an up-and-coming area of the city.

In documentation to lure in investors, Superlativo 8 makes it clear that the capsules can be rented out to long term tenants – despite the fact that law prohibits hostels being used as .

In adverts seen on , investors are told they can buy ‘a pack of two individual bedroom capsules’ for €48,000 (just under £40,000).

The firm – co-managed by a young couple who present themselves as “experts in disruptive real estate investments” – promises returns of between 19.7% and 31.1% in just one year – much higher than the typical rental or an -style flat.

A 40-page dossier prepared by the investors, seen by , reads: “Due to the excessive housing demand, [this project] allows empty units to be filled in lower seasons, in a coliving mode”.

The dossier also says that the coliving alternative guarantees occupancy in case another pandemic causes tourists to disappear: “This model offers a guarantee of occupancy in the event of another possible .”

It also identifies as potential clients those in the process of looking for a home “due to the .”

The website opens with a video of a mansion and a sports car, but the capsule hostel project is located on a street in a working-class neighborhood with few signs of exclusivity – next to a hardware store and a petrol station.

A Superlativo 8 spokesperson told the same newspaper that it is not breaking any laws because “co-living is not expressly regulated in Andalusia and, therefore, the freedom of agreements of the Civil Code governs”.

However, a spokesperson for the Andalucian Ministry of insisted regional legislation prohibits such establishments from being used as living spaces, adding: “In Andalucia, a hostel cannot. It would have to change its official use”.

A second hostel in – which has reportedly been operating since August and already has people living in these capsules – is another example of the issue, with regional decree also preventing this type of housing accommodation.

The affordable housing crisis in has unleashed a boom in or hostels (with capsules or bunk beds). In theory they are intended for tourists, but some are being used for long stays.

Gonzalo Bernardos, director of a real estate master’s degree at the University of Barcelona, ​​explains that these “misnamed investors” are able to extract greater profitability from their space.

He said: “The problem of precarious housing resurfaces every time the demand for housing is greater than the supply, and capsules are perhaps the ultimate expression of this phenomenon”.

“We see it in hostels, but also in the market for rooms, which historically were only for students,” he added, “but now are also for immigrant families; or also in advertisements on Idealista or Fotocasa where I see more shabby properties than ever”.

Many examples of substandard housing have made the headlines in recent months. In October, Badalona () dismantled 18 15-square-metre hovels in a former warehouse. They were inhabited by families who paid 450 euros (£373) a month.

The capsules have sparked fury online, with residents seeing them as yet another sign of the property market’s decline in terms of accessibility.

One local wrote on : “I can’t believe it. The very idea is an attack on the minimum respect for human dignity”.

Another said: “I hope this is fake because this is now intolerable”.

Others questioned the legality of the offer: “How on earth can they offer and sell these? I thought a dwelling (a place to live) in the municipality of Malaga must have a surface area equal to or greater than 30.50 m²?”

Express.co.uk has contacted Superlativo 8 for comment.