Málaga Socialist spokesman urges city to explore industrialised construction for housing

Mariano Ruiz Araujo, the Socialist spokesman at Málaga's ayuntamiento (town hall), has called for industrialised construction to be explored as another way to tackle the city's housing shortage, Diario Sur reported on 6 November. The report sets out his views only; it does not describe any concrete plan, budget or timeline.

What is being proposed

According to Diario Sur, Ruiz Araujo described the housing emergency as so urgent that experts and administrations should look at building methods that have not been widely adopted in Spain. He explained the approach as manufacturing parts of a building in modules in a factory while, at the same time, work goes ahead on the site and licences and paperwork are completed.

He suggested that using the method on municipal plots owned by the Ayuntamiento de Málaga could bring homes to market sooner. In his words, "nos ahorraríamos mucho tiempo", with homes arriving between 20% and 60% earlier, "como estiman los expertos". The article does not say which experts or studies that estimate comes from.

He also said the method "no abarata automáticamente cada promoción, pero puede hacer el proceso más eficiente, previsible y sostenible" (it does not automatically make each development cheaper, but can make the process more efficient, predictable and sustainable). Diario Sur added that the benefits of such systems depend on each project, its design and the construction system used.

Local examples cited

Ruiz Araujo pointed to two Málaga buildings. The first is the Caser Residencial care home for older people in Cerrado de Calderón, with 156 places and more than 9,500 square metres built, including nearly 3,000 square metres of prefabricated facade that helped it fit a sloping plot. The second is a student residence on calle Cerrojo with 140 rooms and 5,785 square metres. According to its developer, as relayed by Ruiz Araujo, 75% of its components were made off site and the work took nine months.

Call for cooperation

The councillor said Málaga had come late to the housing crisis and should not settle for "anuncios tímidos o promociones futuras", calling instead for the city to set objectives, mobilise land, tender and build. He said this would require cooperation between administrations, social organisations, housing cooperatives and trade unions, which could contribute land, funding and technical know-how.

Diario Sur noted that Ruiz Araujo is currently on paternity leave but has continued working on the subject. The proposal comes from the opposition; the report does not say how the governing party or the town hall has responded.