THE COAST

A June survey of 82 expats found 42 per cent believe a Spanish residency card permits use of automated border gates. The correct procedure is the manned EU lane with passport and TIE, as e-gates cannot read the residence permit.

José Seguí, unpaid for eight years of drafts on Málaga's port tower, has sued the developers after they replaced him with Pritzker winner David Chipperfield, whose redesign added 28 metres and 35 floors to the contested luxury hotel.

Andalucía will receive €31.7B in central government transfers next year, an 8% increase over 2026, with potential for €4.8B more if a new financing model passes. The handover: historic.

Noatum Automotive plans to import 40,000 Chinese vehicles yearly through Motril Port under a 15-year contract, with BYD, Chery and SAIC models already 21% cheaper than European equivalents. The local gain: three Ro-Ro ramps and a repair centre.

Spain's government has allocated €133 million to expand Muelle 8, a dock for 250-meter bulk carriers, as part of a €1.3 billion Andalusian port investment plan. The price of progress: nine figures.

Costa del Sol hotels logged 10.3 million overnight stays in the first half of 2026, up 4.2%, with domestic guests driving the rise despite a 9% hike in average room rates to €125.52.

The Carromato de Mijas, a museum in a yellow wagon, houses microscopic portraits, fleas dressed in clothes, and a shrunken head traded from a Bantu tribe. Entry: €3.

Marbella alone has spent over a million euros this year clearing 10,000 tons of Rugulopterix Okamurae from its 27km shoreline.

Health officials advised against swimming at Atlanterra beach after detecting abnormal levels of E. coli and intestinal enterococci; local ecologists say authorities ignored years of warnings about inadequate sewage infrastructure.

A jet ski entered Carboneras commercial port and interfered with a cement ship docking. The Maritime Captaincy of Almería has opened a sanctioning file, with fines ranging from €12,000 to €15,000.

Carboneras town hall has revoked the construction licence for the 21-storey, 411-room hotel abandoned inside Cabo de Gata-Níjar natural park, and is now legally required to begin demolition. The court stopped construction in 2006; the licence outlived it by twenty years.

A planned facility to farm 3,000 tonnes of octopus annually at Las Palmas port has been withdrawn after five years of environmental assessments and scientific scrutiny of cephalopod sentience.

A €1 'Mega Millonario' scratch card bought from a kiosk in Plaza de la Hispanidad turned out to be worth a thousand times its weight in gold.

The £1.1 billion Eastside project builds 1,300 luxury homes on reclaimed land, using tens of thousands of tonnes of rock imported through La Línea.