Healthcare workers at one of the Costa del Sol’s main hospitals are sleeping in cars and caravans because they can’t afford to live nearby, a union has warned.
The CSIF says staff at the Hospital Costa del Sol are facing a ‘serious crisis’ driven by skyrocketing housing costs, poor transport links and a lack of action from authorities.
According to the union, some workers are rejecting contracts altogether because they can’t find anywhere to live in Marbella or nearby areas.
Others are accepting jobs but under what CSIF describes as ‘undignified conditions’, sleeping in their cars or motorhomes parked at the hospital itself. Some have reportedly been living like this for years.
For those who don’t stay overnight, the alternative is long commutes, sometimes hundreds of kilometres, from other parts of Andalucia just to keep their positions.
The union says this is no longer an isolated issue but a structural problem that is pushing essential workers out of the area. It’s also making it harder to fill shifts, especially temporary roles.
That has knock-on effects for patient care, with staffing shortages already being felt and expected to worsen.
Summer pressure set to make things worse
CSIF warns the situation could deteriorate further in the coming months, as demand for healthcare rises during the summer and it becomes even harder to recruit staff to cover holidays.
The problem has been compounded by the cancellation of a bus service earlier this year that helped hospital staff commute from Malaga and other areas.
Its removal, the union says, has left workers with even fewer options.
Calls for urgent action
The union has formally asked hospital management to step in and consider emergency measures to avoid what it describes as a potential collapse in services.
One proposal is to reuse public facilities for temporary staff housing – something that was done during the pandemic, when a nearby residence was opened to accommodate healthcare workers.
CSIF has criticised the decision to hand that building over to private operators, calling it another example of poor planning that prioritises tourism over essential services.
‘An unsustainable situation’
The union said the public healthcare system cannot function if workers have nowhere to live and no way to get to work.
Without urgent action, it warns, the Costa del Sol risks losing more healthcare professionals.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
