Malaga Holy Week: overcrowded streets and empty restaurants

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Business owners say that tourists have reduced their spending and many cancelled their bookings last week due to difficulty moving around the city centre

Juan Soto

Malaga

Monday, 6 April 2026, 10:38

Malaga closed Holy Week on Sunday, 5 April, after a week of contradictions: overcrowded streets and empty restaurants. The good weather encouraged locals and visitors to flock to the processions, but traffic problems in many parts of the city centre and more restrained spending prevented establishments from making a profit.

Owner of six restaurants in the city centre Romina di Lorenzo confirmed the observation. "We've done a good job, but traffic has been a problem: many people couldn't get here and ended up cancelling," she said.

Coastal success vs urban decline

While Malaga city centre struggled with its own popularity, Costa del Sol beaches enjoyed a bumper week.

• Positive outlook: Javier Frutos, president of the regional hoteliers' association (Mahos), described the week as "positive," noting that coastal areas benefited from the beach-weather appeal.

The chiringuito factor: Manuel Villafaina, head of the beach business association, reported a "spectacular" Friday. He noted a surge in domestic tourists and visitors who had diverted their plans from the Middle East to Europe.

• Transport slump: Even the transport sector felt the pinch. Miguel Ángel Martín from the Aumat taxi association described the week as "slower than last year," noting that the good weather didn't translate into the expected volume of fares.

Di Lorenzo said that, while there were many people who were determined to eat out or have a drink during the public holidays, their spending was lower. "There were a lot of people who only had one beer and wanted to keep watching the processions."

According to Di Lorenzo, the real drivers of spending last week were the tourists, many of them from the easternmost part of the country, who had come by car.

Di Lorenzo said that Calle Sánchez Pastor was the bottleneck in the city centre during Holy Week, as the police would often block access to use it as an evacuation route. Di Lorenzo considers closing the two restaurants she owns there (El Nacional and Pampa Grill) next year, because many customers could not get there over the past few days anyways.

Damián Caneda owns two establishments in the central Plaza del Obispo and he agrees with Di Lorenzo's observations. "Sales in the city centre have been lower than last year, especially during the first part of the week," he said.

This concerns business owners because their profits were lower despite the lack of any rain in the forecast for this year's Semana Santa. "This week should have been a bustling one and we've only had a few really busy days," he stated.

Caneda also has establishments outside the historic centre. According to his accounts, those he owns in the La Victoria neighbourhood performed better than those in the most congested areas. He believes the "abundant sunshine and good weather" have been the determining factor.

Another person who has noticed a less vibrant atmosphere in the city centre is owner of La Reserva 12 on Calle Bola José Gómez. "We've been full every day, but when you took a walk around the city centre you could see that it hasn't been the same everywhere," he said.

The Malaga hotelier acknowledges that many tourists came this year despite the inconveniences of not having a high-speed train service to Madrid. "People have come however they could and the common comment at many tables was about the neglect shown in fixing the problem."

Better results on the coast

In an initial assessment, pending more precise data, president of the hoteliers' association Javier Frutos believes that this year's Holy Week "has been positive" with better performance in coastal areas, mainly due to the good weather and the appeal of the beach.

Although he believes this year can't be compared to last year, when Easter was in the middle of April, Frutos acknowledges that "demand is holding back" and that sales in Malaga city will likely be slightly lower. "Wednesday was the day we saw the fewest people," he said..

Beach bars and restaurants have had the greatest advantage. Head of the beach business association Manuel Villafaina said that this year there were many people from all over Spain. "They hadn't been here for more than two months and some even told me they would come even if they had to walk," Villafaina said.

In this case, he's referring to tourists who own second homes or flats on the Costa del Sol or who have even rented hotel rooms. "The whole week has gone very well, although Friday was spectacular," he said. According to Villafaina, there were also many tourists who had cancelled a trip in the Middle East and subsequently booked a vacation in Europe. "We expect this to continue after Easter," he said.

It has also been an atypical week for the taxi sector. Miguel Ángel Martín from the Aumat association said that this year's Holy Week "has been slower than last year." "Although the weather has been good, it hasn't been everything we expected," he stated.