By Marc Menendez-Roche • Updated: 21 Sep 2024 • 12:42 • 3 minutes read
The A-7 road between Marbella and Malaga is choking under the weight of thousands of vehicles daily, as desperate commuters face hours stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Credit: Pexels, Stan
The A-7 road between Marbella and Malaga is choking under the weight of thousands of vehicles daily, as desperate commuters face hours stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Malaga Residents Demand Urgent Action as A-7 Road Congestion Crisis Worsens.
Fed-up residents along the Costa del Sol have started voicing their concern as the situation worsens, but local leaders say there’s no end to the nightmare in sight.
12km gridlocks, fuming drivers, blazing heat, missed appointments and school drop-offs. This is a daily occurrence on the stretch of the A-7 road between Marbella and Malaga. The situation is so dire that local leaders have had to call for an emergency meeting following outrage from local residents.
Malaga’s rapid growth has spiralled out of control in recent years, and its infrastructure is now quivering under the relentless pressure. With some 65,000 people commuting daily, the situation is steadily becoming unsustainable.
Commuters are trapped in a web of congestion spanning from the A-7 east, MA-21, to the old N-340 and the western ring road and beyond. Roads have become a daily battleground for drivers desperate to get home to their loved ones.
Seven-year-old Macson Oliver describes how he can no longer go home after school because the commute from Marbella to Benalmadena, which used to take one hour, now takes two hours some days. This means he has to wait around in a shopping centre with his Dad until it’s time to go to his Mum’s house.
Cases like this are currently rife, and the situation is getting worse as more people move to the province.
Furious residents like Avinash Ahuja are demanding immediate change: “I’ve had enough; it now takes me an extra forty minutes to drive back from work unless I wait around in Marbella. There are people who can’t pick their own children up from school anymore, people who don’t want this.”
Malaga’s Mayor Francisco de la Torre, who was awarded an honorary OBE, admitted there’s no quick solution to the congestion crisis.
“They know there’s a problem, but that seems to be coming from the top are excuses. It seems like there is a feeling of overwhelm and lack of initiative,” according to Mr Ahuja.
While the public demands solutions, working groups and long-term projects create more red tape in a country where red tape is the second most popular sport, after football, of course.
Park-and-Ride Failure
Are the proposed Park-and-Ride schemes doomed to fail?
While Park-and-Ride schemes may alleviate some congestion in city centres, they are non-existent in many towns and do not tackle the issue of commutes between the different towns along the Costa del Sol. The Malaga province is particularly spread out, with many small hubs like Torremolinos, Benalmadena, Fuengirola, Mijas, Marbella, San Pedro de Alcantara and Estepona. Park-and-ride schemes are not designed for this type of commuting, and they are more suited to commuting inside one city.
Scooters and Bikes Won’t Fix This
Are bikes and scooters really the answer when the province is on the verge of total gridlock?
Residents are furious while politicians try to convince them that bikes and low-emission zones are the solutions. While there is merit in these initiatives, they are hardly a solution to relentless traffic in cities, A-roads, and motorways. Let’s be realistic: commuters are not about to ditch their cars or buses and bomb down the A-7 road on a scooter to drop their kids off at school. Did these politicians use scooters and bikes to get to this meeting? Or did they schedule it at a quieter time of day to avoid rush hour?
Unless something is done quickly and things are allowed to snowball, the Costa del Sol risks falling into a full-blown traffic apocalypse. Let’s make no mistake: we are sitting on a ticking time bomb, too distracted by the pretty beaches to realise. The environmental toll, the economic hit, and the stress and mental health impact on residents who are forced to endure daily chaos on the roads are immense.
How long before the Costa del Sol comes to a complete standstill?
What is clear is that there are deep issues that need to be resolved on the A-7 Road on the Costa del Sol.
Proposed solutions are inadequate and almost half-baked.
Local residents are not happy.
Share this story
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don't already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Marc is a writer, teacher, and language enthusiast with a passion for making complex topics simple and accessible. With a background in business and legal communication and an interest in educational neuroscience, Marc has spent over a decade teaching and writing. Now, as part of the team at Euro Weekly News, Marc enjoys diving into entertaining topics and stories that matter to the community. When he's not writing, Marc loves practising martial arts, playing football, cooking up a storm in the kitchen, or spending quality time with friends and family, but above all, Marc enjoys spending time with his son, Macson.
Use the pay road. I can get from Puerto Banus to Benalmadena in 35 minutes !
There is an answer, but for some weird reason people still resist this – improve public transport!! Where there is a will, there is a way … It would not only speed up traffic, as there would be fewer vehicles on the road, it would reduce noise (a serious issue) and other pollutions.
For years EWN’s comment on this has been to make the AP-7 free between Marbella and Fuengirola ! An instant way of reducing the problem – what’s stopping this idea going ahead right now ? ? ?
Totally agree 👍
Comments are closed.
Download our media pack in either English or Spanish.