The obsolete hotels of Torremolinos live their second youth: homes for digital nomads

There was a time when Torremolinos was a superpower tourism attraction in the Nordic countries, and while ordinary Spaniards could only marvel at the enormous hotels and new buildings growing like mushrooms along Malaga's Costa del Sol. Now, those beloved Torremolinos hotels are reinvented to become colivings for digital nomads.

Torremolinos: from tourism to nomadism. After the approval of the project to reconvert the Los Álamos hotel complex in Torremolinos, which has been abandoned for a decade, the developer Nuovit Corporate is going to proceed with its demolition. In its place, a new project will be built in which 180 apartments will be built for digital nomads that symbolize the urban regeneration of the area.

“Without a doubt our city has the vocation to attract talent, specialized work, professionals, who, I am convinced, once they live in Torremolinos, will want not only to inhabit it, but to live it,” declared Margarita del Cid, mayor of Torremolinos during the presentation of the new project.

Coliving of Vanguard. The new project will be called 'Oceanika' and will have an area of ​​15,500 square meters distributed among 180 private one- and two-bedroom apartments. That represents 36% of the city's accommodation offer of this type in a single shared housing space.

The old Los Álamos hotel will give way to a complex that will include both private areas and common spaces. It will have two swimming pools, several sports spaces, a gym, space for coworking and green areas. This turns the complex into a space designed for digital nomads to telework, but also incorporates the element of coworking to generate synergies and collaborations between those who live there.

Reactions to excess demand. The Costa de Sol, with Malaga at the forefront, has become one of the most attractive destinations for digital nomads thanks to its good climate and good communication infrastructure. According to real estate portal data Idealistically, the price of housing in Malaga has skyrocketed by 15.5% year-on-year in the last year, and that is beginning to spread to other towns around the Andalusian capital, and Torremolinos is growing at the same rate.

This makes coliving an increasingly attractive option for people who, like digital nomads, change their residence regularly with stays ranging from several weeks to years, and with a high level of income. “This operation reflects the interest in developing new accommodation models in Malaga given the lack of rental supply and the growing demand in the short, medium and long term. The attractiveness of Malaga, the new lifestyle and work trends, require new attractive and affordable options in locations like this,” declares José Félix Pérez-Peña, director of Savills Andalucía.

From concrete to wood. The reinvention of this space also involves the materials and distribution that will be used in its construction. The modules that will form the apartments will be stacked in a way that makes better use of natural light and wood finishes will be used to reduce the environmental footprint of the building that, like the Los Álamos hotel did for decades, will welcome visitors who arrive. to Torremolinos on the N-340.

The new space is expected to come into operation at the end of 2025 and, from that moment, it will be managed by the company Habyt, specialized in managing coliving spaces similar spread throughout Europe.

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Image | Habyt, Google Maps