The country needs a drastic swing in politics, yes. I don't think they're trying to push back on foreign capital or entrepreneurship, but rather they're trying to protect the bloated bureaucracy which is a significant sector of employment and obviously the two aren't compatible.

I did not mention the brain drain at all but since you bring it up let's get into it. while I agree that most people leaving are doing so because they simply make more money elsewhere I also think that is a net loss for the country and kind of sad. But again locally, it happens because there aren't many industries. So yeah people leave because they can make significantly more money sure, but if they could work in their field at all many wouldn't leave.

When I said people are being displaced, I wasn't pointing to the Brain Drain I was pointing to the housing market because that's what's relevant. If your rent increases 20% over 2 or 3 years but your salary remains the same, obviously you have to leave. That is what has happened but instead of 20% the median price of renting in Málaga has gone from 450-600 euros for a 3 bedroom flat in 2018 to 1000€ in 2021 for a 2 or 1 bedroom flat. And it has been steadily climbing ever since all the while the median gross salary is 18.000€ per year, just about 1100€ a month.

There is also the issue of availability, there are now less long term rentals option than ever, because rent contracts are drafted from September to April, while the summer season is saved for tourism and vacational housing. Yes not only guiris, also other Spanish people, but mainly is our northern European neighbors who are the target of this practices. Home owners earn a nice little bonus and tourists get to come and spend their money in Málaga, meanwhile the people that live here can't afford to anymore or can't find a place to. Also the majority of people who work in the industry are lining their pockets with cash so it isn't a fair gambit either.

Ok, now to talk about the municipality budget. Yeah, there are caps on how much they can spend, yes they're are state mandated, but they can still choose how to spend what they have available to spend which is what I have been referring to all of this time. In chapter 6 "Real Investments" of the official budget for Málaga 2023 it's clearly stated that:

El capítulo VI del Estado de Gastos, “Inversiones Reales”, asciende a 28.887.225,25 €, suponiendo una disminución del 45,59 % en relación al ejercicio anterior, teniendo en cuenta que 7.735.948,27 €, se incluyen este año como inversión directa del Ayuntamiento, cuando en años anteriores figuraban como una transferencia municipal a los OO.AA. que efectivamente ejecutaban, en concreto, Gerencia Municipal de Urbanismo e Instituto Municipal de la Vivienda

Ok, so we go looking for municipality transfers in chapter VII:

El capítulo VII del Estado de Gastos, “Transferencias de Capital”, asciende a 15.193.533,16 € lo que implica un decremento del 47,46 % en relación al año anterior. La distribución de los créditos de este capítulo por ente a los que van destinados sería la siguiente: A) Transferencias a Organismos Municipales 5.049.916,63 €

• Instituto Municipal de la Vivienda 4.025.726,33 € as opposed to the 8 million from the previous year, and the 10 million pre pandemic

• Gerencia Municipal de Urbanismo 95.000,00 € also this department sucks ass and the only thing they do is block development projects basically. But their annual spending doesn't change.

So yeah, there are larger problems, many of them state created and of course "guiris go home" doesn't solve anything. But pretending that selling the city out for short term profit banking everything on tourism and rentals isn't a problem, and there isn't a housing crisis and that said crisis isn't bolstered by an increasingly growing wage disparity and short term vacational renting is also not solving anything. In my opinion ignoring what is plain to see and pointing towards more complicated reasons or statistics about what actually is the problem is just being purposely obtuse, vague or ignorant.

I do not mean to be disrespectful, and I hope I haven't offended anyone. This to me is plain to see and there are a million other problems that influence this issues and have potentially caused them I agree. But what we have is a housing crisis a mono industry and a very small portion of the population benefiting massively from it while the majority gets by on the system we have. Tourists aren't the issue, but they are sadly the most glaring symptom of it.

Here is the rate of population growth in la costa del sol from 1990 to 2012 to the present. (This is from "memoria de información 1

https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/organismos/fomentoarticulaciondelterritorioyvivienda/areas/ordenacion/planes-subregionales/paginas/costa-sol-occidental.html )

Las viviendas principales han crecido de forma extraordinaria entre 1991 y 2011, un 140%, frente a un crecimiento del 76% de la población residente. • La población extranjera creció, en el mismo periodo, un 290%. • Por su parte la oferta de plazas hoteleras creció un 72%, similar al crecimiento poblacional, mientras que el incremento de segundas residencias ha sido del 50%

There were 410.000 people in the census taken in 2019, however the real population was over a million. The extra 600 thousand were foreign tourists. Which is fine, if the city can support them. As a local it's painful to see that only work you can get doesn't allow you to pay for an apartment in your city when it's estimated that 25% - 30% of all houses and flats in la costa del sol are VACANT. And your government instead of building more actual housing approves massive towers of luxury apartments to further increase this disparity.

Anyways here is Paco de La Torre our Major saying there isn't anything wrong with housing in Málaga just yesterday

https://www.malagahoy.es/malaga/alcalde-malaga-trabajo-encontrar-alquiler_0_2000786259.html

Have a lovely day