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The annual report of Spain's Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) puts figures on what many long-suffering drivers experience on a daily basis. Motorway exits to Malaga city have broken all records and now exceed 252,279 journeys each day. The figure represents an increase of 12,533 cars in a single year, or 5.23 per cent.
The biggest problem occurs on the routes between Rincón de la Victoria, the neighbouring town to the east, and Malaga city. In this case, the infrastructure between the Ronda Este and Rincón was inaugurated in 2003 as an alternative to the traffic jams at the time at La Araña. In this time, the number of car journeys have skyrocketed and the alternatives are poor.
Intensidad del tráfico
en los accesos a Málaga
Intensidad media diaria, 2024
Málaga
Norte
50.394
A-45
Málaga
Occidental
A-7
125.007
Málaga
Oriental
A-7
76.878
Intensidad del tráfico
en los accesos a Málaga
Intensidad media diaria, 2024
Málaga
Norte
50.394
A-45
Málaga
Occidental
A-7
125.007
Málaga
Oriental
A-7
76.878
Intensidad del tráfico en los accesos a Málaga
Intensidad media diaria, 2024
Málaga
Norte
50.394
A-45
Málaga
Occidental
A-7
125.007
Málaga
Oriental
A-7
76.878
Thus, in 2004, when the Ronda Este-Rincón ring road was still new, 57,182 vehicles entered or left Malaga via the Ronda Este ring road. Today there are 76,878. This is a sharp increase: 34 per cent and 19,696 vehicles in two decades. During 2024, traffic in this area grew by 2,558 cars per day.
The solution to the problem is a long time coming. It was not until May last year that Spain's Ministry of Transport awarded the contract to look into alternatives to the consultancy firm Ayesa. On the table were the widening of the road, a bus-VAO lane, a rapid-transit lane or even a new dual carriageway.
On the western side of the city the trend is clearly upwards. While in 2004 there were 115,410 vehicles per day, last year the figure was 125,007. The most pronounced growth has taken place in the last twelve months, with 5,930 more cars. In this case, the ministry is planning to widen the dual carriageway to three lanes, with the demolition of the current bridge and an alternative route further north. 190 million euros are planned and the project is in the design and environmental impact phase. The idea of a bus-VAO lane between Torremolinos and Malaga, which was originally planned, was later discarded.
The project is situated on the A-7 motorway and starts at kilometre 228.5 and is approximately eight kilometres long. Within this section, from the first junction of the route at the Los Álamos exit, the motorway changes its name to the MA-20. The section begins in Torremolinos, at the La Colina residential area and train station, the point where the reduction from three to two lanes in each direction of traffic currently begins, and extends to approximately kilometre 7.5 of the MA-20 motorway, where the branches begin at the junction where the western ring road intersects the A-357 motorway and from where Avenida de Andalucía starts.
Access from inland of the province has also grown and shows that many people work in Malaga and have moved to other municipalities. In the last year, 4,045 new cars have been added to the junctions to the north of the city: some 50,394 a day.
The A-357 is not included in the report because it is the responsibility of the regional government, with traffic mainly between Cártama, the Parque Tecnológico de Andalucía (PTA), the university and the entrance to the Police Station. Sando is the company contracted by the Consejería de Fomento to build the bus lane-VAO. The work started just this week. The latest figures indicate more than 74,000 vehicles per day. The project will cost more than 8.5 million euros and should be ready by summer.
The overall volume of traffic coming into Malaga city had only experienced the same percentage growth in 2015 because the years affected by the pandemic have to be excluded.
It is an issue that is firmly on the technical and political agenda. The solutions put on the table point to the promotion of public transport, but here it is the case, for example, that the new map of interurban concessions. The procedures and studies to activate new lines adjusted to demand will still take five years.
Also on the table are projects that are still a long way off, such as the coastal train, the improvement of the capacity of the Cercanías (even with double-decker trains) or the possible extension of the Malaga metro, the study for which will not begin until next summer.
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