It is one of the oldest cities in Western Europe, continuously inhabited for nearly 3,000 years, in no small part because of its desirable location on the Costa del Sol of the Mediterranean. To the nearly four million tourists who visit every year, it offers sun-soaked beaches, a vibrant arts scene, world-class museums and Moorish fortresses. 

But there is another Málaga that tourists may never know. It is a city training up a workforce ready to succeed in the digital economy. A city of IoT networks and intelligent digital platforms, of business incubators and a thriving technology district. A city that works hard to involve its 600,000 citizens in their collective governance, and that deploys technology to ensure them a prosperous and sustainable future. 

Intellligent Infrastructure

As Spain’s sixth-largest city, Málaga has benefited from major private investment in connectivity. Strong competition among ISPs has delivered 100% availability and high adoption, with a typical household paying €30-40 per month for a high-speed fiber connection. To encourage that deployment, the city provides a simplified digital permitting process that reduces approval times and encourages infrastructure sharing. On this enviable foundation, the city is also building Málaga Abierta (“Open Málaga”), a digital platform to unite all municipal services, tourism and culture, using AI to enhance citizen interaction. 

With an average of 300 days of sunshine per year, a booming tech-and-culture scene and fast digital connections, Málaga has become a magnet for “digital nomads” able to work remotely. When the pandemic brought tourism to a halt, the city created a service to attract more and help them find housing and navigate local bureaucracy. This led to a boom in international residency, which only grew when the Spanish government introduced a Digital Nomad Visa in 2023 and issued nearly 30,000 of them in the first year. 

The Future of Work

Digital nomads are a signpost to the future. The traditional industries of tourism, construction and agriculture still make up a major part of the city’s economy, but the greatest growth potential is in technology. Today, Málaga moves on multiple fronts to develop a local workforce ready to meet its needs. It has broadly integrated digital technologies across its K-12 system and promotes classroom STEM education through city and partner initiatives. Extracurricular programs – some hosted by Málaga TechPark – are fostering interest among thousands of young people in tech careers. 

The city’s opportunity ladder also connects education with employment and entrepreneurship, through work-study, internships and apprenticeships in collaboration with Universidad de Málaga and companies in the TechPark. The Polo National Digital Content Hub, a city-owned initiative, offers incubation and acceleration programs to support entrepreneurship, with special programs supporting participation in STEM by women and underrepresented groups. In addition to these initiatives serving students, the city provides online and hybrid training courses for working-age adults that help them gain competence in software, AI, gaming, digital content creation and digital customer service and marketing. The unemployed and underemployed have access to career guidance, employability training and financial support for moving into rewarding full-time jobs. 

Málaga’s rich array of programs is powered by nearly a dozen universities and business schools, as well as a large and growing vocational education system. One unique asset is 42Málaga, a revolutionary, teacher-less coding campus created by Fundación Telefónica, which uses gamification and peer-to-peer learning to provide free, high-demand digital skills training. Together, the programs supported a 13% year-over-year job growth in 2025 alone. 

Strong Foundation

Workforce development is the foundation of citizen prosperity. It is also the fuel for innovation, which is the key driver of business and economic growth. Málaga has forged a triple-helix ecosystem in which government, industry and academia develop facilities, information resources and programs that eliminate barriers and foster growth. A municipal network of incubators is nurturing more than 200 startups at any given time, while makerspaces and FabLabs provide shared-use access to high-performance, high-cost equipment. The city has amassed a full spectrum of funding options from local, national, European and private investment sources as well as public-private R&D funding. Its Living Lab projects deploy large-scale smart city and urban innovation systems that create opportunities for companies to prove new technologies – and to engage citizens in their projects. 

Much of this effort is the product of Fundación CIEDES, a private, nonprofit foundation dedicated to strategic planning. It unites major institutions and key economic and social stakeholders in working for the future. CIEDES has been behind projects including the launch of high-speed train service, expansion of ring roads, the airport, the Andalusia Technology Park and Universidad de Málaga – each adding a pillar to the city’s economic future. 

The scale of this ecosystem is most visible at Málaga TechPark, home to more than 700 companies and nearly 28,000 employees, which has strong partnerships with Universidad de Málaga and innovation projects throughout the city. The park will host the planned IMEC semiconductor R&D center, backed by an investment of approximately €615 million and focused on developing advanced 300 mm chip-prototyping processes. 

In addition to the TechPark, triple-helix entities in Málaga include the Google Safety Engineering Center, IMEC Semiconductor Center, the CENTESIMAL municipal IoT infrastructure and the PID Intelligent Tourism Platform, which supports this vital industry while giving the city critical insights into its performance and local impact. 

Embracing Change

Engaging the community in supporting and benefiting from these innovations starts at the top in Málaga. The City Council oversees an institutional framework for face-to-face civic engagement, which includes consultation and deliberation platforms and regular presentations to community groups, chambers of commerce and employers. Málaga also forms government-citizen-business working groups on important issues to prepare reports and recommendations that guide policymaking. 

Supporting these efforts is engagement with the many civic and cultural organizations that help bind the community together. Málaga’s civic life is deeply rooted in a rich living cultural heritage. Its five-century-old Holy Week tradition brings together 43 brotherhoods, or cofradías, involving thousands of citizens across generations. These organizations operate throughout the year as networks of volunteering, social assistance, cultural and artistic preservation, and community mobilization, demonstrating how tradition remains a powerful source of social cohesion and active citizenship.

And Málaga does not bypass the opportunities to use digital technology to extend engagement further. The tools include surveys, email broadcasts, online videos and social media. At a higher level, the city operates an online budgeting platform to help shape investment priorities and an online brainstorming platform to generate new ideas and have citizens vote their preferences.

Inclusion Develops Talent

Under a citywide digital inclusion strategy, the city operates a public network of digital centers and training programs in vulnerable neighborhoods and robotics and digital skills classes for children and youth. A nonprofit partner collected and refurbishes IT equipment for distribution to vulnerable individuals, families and organizations. Vocational education students help elder citizens master the digital basics and sidestep online dangers, while a Telefónica Fundación program presents workshops training elders in smartphone use, WhatsApp, cybersecurity and digital services. 

Many programs also aim to clear a path to better employment for those who lack digital skills and experience. Google and a local nonprofit target training programs in STEM skills and cybersecurity to women and underrepresented groups. The Telefónica Fundación runs a free programming school that provides access to digital careers regardless of background. 

Climate Activism

Southern Spain is no stranger to the impacts of climate change. Extreme heat waves push temperatures past 42 degrees C. (108 F.) and, combined with drought, put the region at risk of desertification. Hotter and drier conditions trigger wildfires in summer and, paradoxically, torrential rains that cause severe flooding. These realities have made Málaga a climate activist. Its climate plan aims to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2050, with over 60 projects focused on sustainable mobility, energy efficiency, the circular economy, and green and blue infrastructure. 

Integrated water management is a core element. Through EMASA, its municipal water company, the city has diversified its supply sources and implemented advanced treatment, digital quality-control monitoring, leakage prevention, wastewater reuse and demand management. The plan also addresses long-term drought resilience, flood attenuation, runoff management and coordinated emergency response.

These investments aim at more than sustainability. Projects also focus on employment and entrepreneurship, business competitiveness, resilient neighborhoods and social inclusion. Málaga has become a major hub for sustainability and green technology in the Andalusia region. Key companies specialize in environmental assessments, sustainable property development, ecological restoration and renewable energy operations. 

The Price of Success

For many cities, the strategies that brought success in the past also created the challenges of today. In Málaga, the biggest economic problem of the post-COVID period is a product of strong economic growth, massive increases in tourism and the influx of digital nomads. Gentrification and soaring home rental prices have become hot-button issues, as they are in many places. Malaga’s government is meeting the challenge with the same careful, citizen-focused, innovation-minded approach that created its past success and will guide it to a successful future.

Population: 592,000

Website: www.malaga.eu