The following transcript was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Carlie: Hello there, it’s Carlie with the Expat Focus Podcast. Today’s episode is for you if you or someone you know has your sights set on a move to Spain, and specifically Málaga. Toni Torres is a local who has witnessed firsthand the good and the bad that has come with the city becoming an expat hotspot. He is going to share some of the realities of moving to Málaga today in 2026, and what you can do to make your move a smooth and enjoyable one.
Toni, it’s great to have you on the Expat Focus Podcast. Thanks so much for coming on the show.
Toni: Thank you so much for your invitation, Carlie.
Carlie: It’s a pleasure. Now, you are based in Málaga in Spain, and that place has changed so much in recent years. As a local who has witnessed this change, I’m really curious if we can start by you explaining to me a little bit about what Málaga in 2026 looks like compared to the Málaga of, say, 10 years or even just five years ago.
Toni: As a person who was born and raised here in Málaga, I’ve been seeing the changes for years. I’ve also lived outside Málaga — I lived in Sevilla for one year, during the pandemic, so five years ago. You can see the difference between the rent at that time and the rent nowadays.
The popularity has increased a lot, too. In the city hall, they’ve built a lot more apartments and hotels — everything is focused on tourism. That’s okay, because my business lives and grows thanks to the tourists as well. But at the same time, it’s not so positive for local people.
Carlie: And as someone who has never been to Málaga, can you tell me why is Málaga such a tourism hotspot? Why is it so popular?
Toni: Well, from my perspective, it’s because if you really like food — fish, seafood, the espetos. You know the espeto? It’s the most famous fish dish here, part of our own traditional gastronomy.
The people from Málaga, too — we are very close, very charmed with foreign people. I think also the safety. It’s very safe here in Málaga. I even notice when I go to other cities in Spain that Málaga is safer. Also in terms of quality of life: for example, my partner lives in Madrid, and you see what it’s like when you have to take public transport there.
Here in Málaga, you can walk everywhere. Wherever you want to go, you can go on foot or ride a bike. So yeah, I understand why people come. And the most important thing: the weather. It’s always sunny, very nice weather. Last year it wasn’t so good, but right now today it’s sunny. I have 27 degrees.
Carlie: It’s not so hot, so it’s perfect. It sounds pretty dreamy, and you’re right on the coast, so you have those beautiful sea breezes as well.
Toni: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely, Carlie.
Carlie: Honestly, Toni, I need some of those right now, because here in Strasbourg in France we’re a little bit landlocked, so during these recent heat waves at the time of recording this, it’s a bit stuffy, and the local lake just doesn’t cut it. You know what I mean?
Toni: Yeah. You’re very welcome to come here one day.
Carlie: Yeah. Now, you yourself have a really interesting perspective on Málaga, because you run a coworking space and a Spanish academy for expats to learn the language, yet you’re born and raised in Málaga. You’re a local.
So where does your loyalty lie? We read a lot, especially about Spanish cities and towns, about locals turning against the tourists and how they’re ruining their towns, raising the rent for people that want to live there a reasonable life, that sort of thing. So what is the current sentiment towards foreigners from locals, and how do you balance that in your daily life?
Toni: It’s a very good question, because right now I feel like I’m a kind of bridge person. I connect foreign people to local people, and I see their concerns. For example, my friends, or the other people I train with because I do martial arts — they’re local, and they tell me their concerns about the situation in the city.
But at the same time, my own students and coworkers are living their dream. They are very happy here. And I have to tell you — and I’m proud of this — most of my students are aware. They’re aware of the situation. Sometimes they say to me, “Toni, I don’t want to be a problem. I don’t want to be like a ‘tourist go home’ tourist.” So most of them are concerned about the situation.
Carlie: So I guess that’s the difference really, isn’t it — having a little bit of self-awareness as a foreigner coming into a city, and how you behave and how you impact the local economy and the local ecosystem.
Toni: Exactly. One week ago, one of my students told me about his couple of dogs. He loves Málaga, and when he’s walking outside with the dogs, he cleans up after them. These lovely small details. And I said, “Oh, man, you take care of Málaga even more than a lot of people do.”
Carlie: Than the locals.
Toni: Yeah, yeah.
Carlie: And I guess it’s a bit of a catch-22. I have family in Malta — small island, overpopulated, overrun by tourists, especially in the summer. Lots of infrastructure problems that affect the locals, but they also really rely on tourism for their local economy. So I guess it’s about striking that balance between what is stimulating your city’s economy and what is harming your city’s ecosystem.
Toni: Yeah. I think there’s also a lot of responsibility on the local government. I voted for this local government because I wanted to see a change here that preserves and maintains the structure for tourism, but at the same time takes care of the local people.
But they’re not doing well. Like I said before, they’re building new buildings, but so little for local people — and if they are building, it’s luxury housing.
Carlie: Which isn’t necessarily going to benefit local people.
Toni: Exactly. In my own case I feel okay, because I live in a nice house, in a nice neighbourhood. But I see how other people have to pay more and more for their rent.
Carlie: On the subject of rent, Toni, for anyone making a move to Málaga today, what do they need to know about the rental market?
Toni: It’s a very important question, because from five years ago until now it’s changing a lot. It’s becoming harder and harder. Prices are increasing, especially in the city centre, and it’s spreading out into the other neighbourhoods too.
Even my own clients, my own digital nomad clients, ask me, “Toni, do you know a place? Do you know a rental, do you know any kind of flat?” Because even for them, it’s becoming a bit harder with the rent. And the interesting data point is that Málaga has become the second most expensive city in Spain, after Madrid or Barcelona, because it’s so popular.
Carlie: Second most expensive city, after Barcelona or Madrid. Oh, gosh.
Toni: What’s also happening — I talk about it with my friends here — is that the current salary for local people is not rising, but the price of rent and other goods is.
Carlie: Yeah, salaries are not keeping pace with the cost of living. That’s a familiar story, Toni. So Málaga’s not immune. And I fully relate to people asking you for any leads on rentals. It really becomes a game of who you know, especially if you’re new to town, if you don’t have a Spanish rental history, and all the documentation that rental agents would typically require. As foreigners, we’re kind of forced to look at other avenues and really flex that network.
Toni: Some of the expats I know here came through relocation businesses, which help them settle down here in Málaga. Some of them contact me too, and I try to help them. But I always tell them: do it in advance, three or four months in advance, and then try to get a good apartment or opportunity.
I think it’s better to go through local people here, and also through the digital nomad community. From what I know, they help each other, especially in the WhatsApp groups and Facebook groups. There’s a lot of interaction there, and they support each other very well.
Carlie: Those WhatsApp, Facebook and Reddit groups are really gold when it comes to local tips and tricks too, aren’t they?
Toni: Yeah. Or they know each other from a party, or from an event. For example, one of my best friends got an apartment that way.
Carlie: Yeah. I remember one of my first apartments here in Strasbourg — it was because we had some friends who were leaving, and they gave us the heads-up that their apartment would be advertised the next day. So we got in first with the real estate agent. Otherwise we’d have been in a line with so many other people trying to compete for apartments.
I have to say, if anyone is watching on the Expat Focus YouTube channel, I have a fly in my office that keeps occasionally flying across my camera. So if you’re seeing this little black dot zipping across the screen every few minutes, you know what’s going on, and it is as annoying to me as it is to you right now. But we continue. And yes, you can listen to us on your favourite podcast app, or of course we’re on video these days, so you can catch the recording on our YouTube channel.
I want to talk about the expat bubble trap in Málaga, Toni, because I’m familiar with it myself here in Strasbourg. But for the uninitiated, what is the expat bubble trap?
Toni: When people come here, the first challenge they have is the language. In my field, I try to help them with their Spanish. It’s the biggest obstacle they have to face. Then there’s the paperwork and the legal stuff, and little by little they start to feel comfortable inside this bubble.
My teachers, my team and I try to help them as much as we can. Because what I see during my lessons is that they speak Spanish, and some of them improve. They get a good enough level to survive outside and have a normal life. But then in daily life, at home, they’re speaking their native language — English, French, whatever.
So what we’re doing now is a lot of cultural meetups, so they can meet each other and also meet Spanish people through that kind of social activity. And yeah, it takes time.
Carlie: One thing I heard a lot when I moved here to my town in France, and I still hear it today, is that the locals are very difficult to get to know. Especially if you didn’t grow up together, you don’t work together, you didn’t go to university together. It’s hard to break in and make friends with local people.
A local Mala— I don’t know what you call yourselves. Malagans?
Toni: Malagueños.
Carlie: Malagueños. Are you guys welcoming to outsiders? Are you interested in forming friendships as adults, or are they kind of set once you’re in your 20s?
Toni: It’s a bit mixed, because we Malagueño people have been raised in a tourist culture. We make our lives and we live thanks to tourism. So we treat tourists very well, because we know they pay our bills — we’re very dependent on them.
I’d say the typical Malagueño has an open heart. An open heart, chilled out, a nice person. That’s the first contact. You can talk with him, you can go out, have a couple of drinks. But going further than that is harder, because of the language and the culture.
Carlie: So then what’s the key, Toni, to learning Spanish?
Toni: I’m going to say immersion. And overcome your fear. Overcome your fear, because I have so many students here. I’m not a random normal school — I’m always trying to share useful techniques, useful things for my students’ daily life. And I say, “Go outside, talk with people.”
For example, I have a Scottish student. He’s doing very well. He joined a — I don’t know how to say it — a chorus, a singing group.
Carlie: Oh, yeah. Like a choir.
Toni: Yeah, with other Spanish people, and he’s learning a lot of Spanish.
So I think this is the way. I have another student from America. She goes to hiking groups, and half the group is Spanish, so she’s speaking Spanish all the time. I also have an American couple — the woman speaks very well, and the man is learning very well now too. But they try to go out and be with other people. So I think this is the right attitude.
Carlie: So the common thread is really just to get out and about with locals, join local groups. And maybe it’s a bit of tough love, needing to push through those awkward periods where it is really scary to join a group and try to participate when your grasp of the language isn’t that great yet. But it is certainly how you’re going to improve a lot.
Toni: True. I think it’s the only way — to overcome your fear, and try. And the people here are nice. We’re not like another culture: even if you only try to speak in Spanish, we listen to you carefully, and we even try to correct you if you need it. What I mean is, here in Málaga.
Something funny, too: most of my clients say, “Oh, Toni, the Andalusian accent” — the south of Spain — “is very hard. You talk very quickly.” And I say, “Yeah, I know. So, be patient. And spend more time with Malagueño people.” That’s it.
Carlie: Yeah, you can’t really blame the accent for… I mean, accents can absolutely be a hurdle. Regional accents, I suppose. I remember saying to my husband when I first met him, “You know, I feel cheated. I’m dating a Frenchman, but he doesn’t have that classic Parisian accent.” And he’s like, “That’s because I’m not from Paris. I’m from Alsace. It’s completely different.”
Toni: Yeah, it’s the same with my partner. She’s from Madrid. Some of my foreign friends say, “Toni, she pronounces things better than you.” Well, she’s from Madrid. I’m from the south.
Carlie: Say no more. Toni, what’s your top piece of tough love advice for foreigners looking to make Málaga home?
Toni: I think it’s very easy, actually, because historically Málaga has received a lot of different cultures — Greek, Roman, Muslim, Andalusian. So I think open-mindedness is in our DNA. Just be yourself.
I also need to tell you, we have a very international community here. Very open-minded people, with different ways of thinking about politics, religion, feminism. So it’s not going to be very hard to settle down here in Málaga compared with other cities. The only thing you have to do is go to the groups, meet and get to know other people — and just relax.
Carlie: I mean, that’s what that city’s all about, right?
Toni: Exactly.
Carlie: Toni, where can our listeners find you if they’re interested in your coworking space or your Spanish academy?
Toni: We’re located in the city centre in Málaga, on Calle Comedias. Very central. What we offer is a very personal-touch approach with our lessons. We have a maximum of six or seven seats, with my other teacher, Clara, who is young, energetic and lovely.
And we have a small coworking space inside the same place. What we’re doing is creating those cultural meetups I mentioned, for people who are new in the city. That’s their concern: where am I going, where can I meet new people? So this can be one of the best places for meeting new people.
Carlie: Well, Toni, thank you so much for coming on the Expat Focus Podcast. It has been great to learn more about Málaga and what you should know as a foreigner to thrive in the city.
That’s it for today. Do you agree with Toni‘s advice? Maybe you’ve had a completely different experience of Málaga. Let us know on our social channels — just search for Expat Focus. Don’t forget to like and subscribe to the show however you like to listen, and I will catch you in the next one.