Malaga’s mayor has suggested creating a low-cost campsite for people living in motorhomes as the city prepares to evict dozens of caravans from a beachside settlement next week.

Mayor Francisco de la Torre said the city has long needed an official campsite, acknowledging that some people living at the Sacaba Beach encampment have been forced there by the ongoing housing crisis.

‘It is an issue this city has needed to address for some time – how we can make it easier to have a campsite for caravans within the municipality,’ he said.

The comments come as the city council moves ahead with plans to clear the long-established settlement beside Sacaba Beach, where dozens of motorhomes, campervans and caravans have occupied a former industrial site just 200 metres from a luxury tower development, where penthouses are expected to sell for close to €10million.

Residents have been told they must leave by Tuesday, with any vehicles remaining after the deadline to be removed by tow trucks.

The council says the eviction is necessary for reasons of public health, cleanliness and safety.

District councillor Francisco Pomares has also said bollards will be installed afterwards to prevent vehicles from returning.

While defending the eviction, De la Torre struck a more conciliatory tone towards those living there.

‘These people have all my respect, especially those whose situation is the result of the housing shortage,’ he said.

He said the council hopes to develop an affordable campsite, although it has yet to identify suitable public land.

‘We’re not major landowners in that area, so it won’t be quick, but we hope to find a solution,’ he said, while stressing that the beach ‘is a public space, free and shared by everyone.’

The eviction has sparked criticism from opposition parties, which argue the council should provide alternative accommodation before forcing residents out.

The leader of the Socialist group (PSOE), Mariano Ruiz Araujo, called for an emergency rehousing plan, saying many of those living at Sacaba are not tourists but local residents priced out of Malaga’s soaring property market.

Among those living in the settlement, he said, are even public sector workers unable to afford rents.

He accused the city of being ‘quick to send in tow trucks but slow to provide solutions.’

Meanwhile, left-wing coalition Con Málaga also backed the residents, arguing they are victims of a housing model that has pushed ordinary locals out of the city.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.