Malaga advances project to expand biggest wholesale market in province that serves much of Costa del Sol

The existing 40-year-old facilities in the city handled more than 300,000 tonnes of fresh produce last year, the majority of that attributed to fruit and vegetables, followed by fish and seafood, with much of it coming from the Andalucía region

Chus Heredia

Malaga

Tuesday, 22 April 2025, 16:44

Mercamálaga - the biggest wholesale market in the province - has been showing clear signs of saturation, which has prompted demands for new services. The expansion project has reserved a land of more than 90,000 square metres, according to the general urban development plan (PGOU), and now requires the drafting of a special plan. For that reason, a technical assistance contract has already been put out to tender for 32,000 euros. The contracting company is required to present a progress report in four months.

One of the key points of the project is to rearrange the road, communications, infrastructure and service systems, as well as to guarantee a good interconnection with the current facilities. One of the most significant challenges is the need to lower the road that continues from Avenida Ortega y Gasset.

The design must incorporate a strategic environmental assessment, as well as a participatory process. The timeline aims for the final approval of the special plan, which will define uses, volumes, structures, and communications.

Coordination with Mercasa

The successful bidder will carry out the work in accordance with the indications and guidelines issued by Malaga's department of urban planning and management and by the services of Mercasa and Mercamálaga.

The facilities handled more than 300,000 tonnes of produce last year, which is a clear sign of increasing activity. The majority of that can be attributed to fruit and vegetables, followed by fish and seafood, with 51% of fruit and vegetables and 65% of fish and seafood coming from Andalucía.

Surface area

The more than 40 years old Mercamálaga is considered the largest wholesale market in eastern Andalucía. It has a surface area of almost 300,000 square metres and around 100 companies have stalls there. Some 1,200 buyers go to Mercamálaga every day to supply their businesses.

The specific area reserved for the expansion is 91,129 square metres to the north of the current wholesale market. The idea of the extension is to add a wholesale market for meat, in addition to enlarging the existing ones for fruit, vegetables and fish.

This was one of the issues discussed at a meeting a few days ago between the mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre, and the president of Mercasa, José Miñones.

Participation

At the moment, 87.3% of Mercamálaga is owned by public company Mercasa and 12.6% by Malaga city council. The whole area of the current market is occupied by companies, which prompts the demand for more space.

De la Torre and Miñones also discussed future plans for Mercamálaga, including last-mile distribution to connect the market with businesses across the city through sustainable logistics and the integration of Mercamálaga into the design of the railway network to enable goods transport by train.

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