Spain’s Airbnb craze sparks row after 27,000 businesses are turned into flats: ‘Guiris go home’ stickers appear on tourist lets in Valencia – but local in Malaga says ‘thanks to them we all have jobs’ [Video]

FIGURES released this week show that more than 800 shops, bars and other local businesses in Malaga have been turned into homes over the past three years.

Specifically, some 839 premises in the Costa del Sol city have been changed since 2021, according to property portal Idealista, citing data from the national land registry.

Out of these, 327 were shops or bars, while 198 were warehouses and storage rooms, and 88 were offices.

Meanwhile, a total of 60 hotels were transformed into multiple flats, as were two religious buildings.

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And it’s no surprise, according to the report, which states that turning a business into a home can triple the property’s …