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Business Malaga business news: one third of province's towns and villages are losing companiesWhile Malaga province sees a business spike, 34 inland municipalities including Salares and Archidona face a decline in companies and population.
Monday, 2 February 2026, 11:50
While the province of Malaga has been undergoing a demographic and business spike in the past five years, a third of its smaller towns and villages are going in the opposite direction.
According to data from between 2020 and 2025, the overall population of the province has increased by 6.2%, to almost 1.8 million inhabitants, while the number of companies has doubled, surpassing 59,552. Malaga is first in Andalucía in terms of the number of registered companies and second in terms of population, exceeded only by Seville.
The reality for some municipalities reveals demographic and economic challenges. From 2020 to 2025, the province gained more than 105,000 inhabitants, but a fifth of them (20,600) live in Malaga city, while more than a third of companies (2,239 out of 6,400) are in the provincial capital.
Meanwhile, in 34 of the province's towns and villages (a third of the 105 in Malaga), the number of companies at the end of 2025 was lower than at the end of 2020. At the same time, there are another 30 or so towns that are escaping the general population growth in the province.
In 14 towns, the reduction in population goes hand in hand with the reduction in the number of companies. The rest of the towns undergoing cuts in the business fabric are generally smaller in population - many have fewer than a thousand inhabitants. Not one has a population of 10,000.
Salares is the municipality with the greatest decrease in the number of companies in the last five years in relative terms. It has the smallest business fabric in the province, with one company, compared to two in 2020. This coexists with a 12% population increase, which might seem like a lot, but given the overall size of the population (under 200 people) it translates to just 21 new inhabitants.
The number of companies in Atajate has doubled, going from four to six. Something similar happens in other small municipalities such as Cartajima, Faraján, Júzcar or Sedella, where the percentage increase outshines absolute numbers.
1 company
comprises the business fabric of Salares - the village at the bottom of the province, although second smallest municipality in Malaga in terms of population
Igualeja, Serrato and Alfarnatejo are in second place in terms of business percentage loss: all three have reduced the number of their companies by between 35 and 30%. All three have fewer inhabitants today than five years ago.
It's interesting that, among the three, Alfarnatejo is the municipality with the lowest number of inhabitants but highest number of companies (17, although compared to 24 in 2020, and 358 inhabitants) Igualeja, while first among the three in population terms (733), only has seven companies, compared to 11 in 2020.
Other towns where both the number of residents and the volume of businesses have declined are Genalguacil, Villanueva de Algaidas, Archidona, Yunquera and Cañete la Real. For example, Genalguacil lost 12.5% of its businesses, from eight to seven, while its population fell 10.5%, to 352. In Villanueva de Algaidas, 32 businesses closed (a 1.55% drop in population to 4,048) and in Archidona, 46 companies disappeared (a 12% decline) while the population stayed around 8,100. In Cañete la Real, the number of businesses has fallen by five (a 7.7% drop), while the population has declined by around 4%, to 1,569 residents.
46 companies
account for the losses recorded in Archidona, which means a decrease in its productive fabric of 12%, while its population has remained stagnant at around 8,100 residents over the last five years
In another group of towns, the number of businesses has also dropped by roughly 4% across the board, with population decreases ranging from 1% to 5%. These towns include Cútar, Benaoján, Almargen, Villanueva de Tapia, Moclinejo, and Cuevas Bajas.
Fewer companies, but more population
Some towns have seen their business fabric shrink but have not experienced a drop in population. These are all very small towns, the smallest in the province, with fewer than a thousand residents, so even small percentage increases in population translate into very modest absolute growth. Examples include Jubrique (two fewer businesses, down to seven, with 585 residents, up 12% from five years ago), Árchez (down to six companies, with 441 residents, up 14% since 2020), Algatocín (down to 18, with population stable at 816) and Iznate (down to 21, with 940 residents, up 3.5%).
Other slightly larger towns have lost businesses over the past five years but have still managed to grow in population. These include Benamocarra, Almáchar, Benamargosa, Sayalonga and Comares, where the drop in businesses ranges from 15% to 25%. All have added residents.
A striking case is Alcaucín, where eight fewer businesses (a 10% drop in its business fabric) coincides with a 17.2% rise in population, approaching 2,700 residents. Periana, Villanueva del Rosario and Algarrobo show similar trends.
Population rises and the number of businesses increases
At the other end of the spectrum, some towns show a clear link between strong population growth and rapid business expansion. Casares, for example, has seen its population rise almost 31% since 2020, surpassing 9,000 residents, while the number of businesses grew over 20% to 219.
Among the larger towns, Mijas has recorded the strongest growth in its business fabric, up 27% in five years to 2,768 companies, while its population has grown 11.4% to over 95,100, twice the provincial average. In Marbella, businesses rose 16.5% to 8,551, outpacing population growth, which increased 8.2% to nearly 160,000. Fuengirola also saw companies grow 13.7% to over 3,000, compared with a 2.85% population rise.
Other coastal towns where business growth outstripped population include Estepona, Benalmádena, Torremolinos, Rincón de la Victoria, Nerja, Manilva and Benahavís.
1,216 companies
have enriched Marbella in the last five years, up to 8,551
In absolute terms, the biggest increases in the number of companies after Malaga city occurred in Marbella (+1,216), Mijas (almost +600), Estepona, Fuengirola and Benalmádena (all +300), Torremolinos (+280) and Nerja, Manilva, and Rincón de la Victoria (all +100). In these towns, the growth rate of new businesses exceeded 10%, and in some cases 20%, while populations also rose, though often not as fast as the number of companies.
Among the largest towns, Vélez-Málaga lagged behind: company numbers grew just 3.76%, below the provincial average, reaching 2,730, with population rising less than 5% over five years to just over 86,000.
Ronda and Antequera, two of the province's most prominent towns, saw modest growth in business number: 2.3% and 1.5% respectively, surpassing 1,000 companies in both cases, while their populations remained largely stable at 33,700 and 41,800.
Finally, the two Alhauríns showed mixed trends: in Alhaurín de la Torre, population and businesses both grew 9% to 45,000 residents and 1,027 companies, while in Alhaurín el Grande, an 8.7% population rise to 27,552 was accompanied by a 15% increase in businesses, reaching 691.