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LIFE IN SPAIN

Seven essential apps for life in Spain’s Málaga

Málaga is one of the most popular cities for foreign residents in Andalusia and if you want to enjoy living there to the fullest, these 7 essential apps will help you out.

Published: 22 May 2023 17:24 CEST
Seven essential apps for life in Spain’s Málaga
The apps you need if you live in Malaga. Photo: Tabea Schimpf / Unsplash

Málaga’s coastal location as the gateway to the Costa del Sol, its bustling centre and many cultural and artistic attractions make it a popular choice for foreigners. 

If you’re living in Málaga, you’ll know that sometimes simple tasks such as parking, finding up-to-date information about the beaches and booking a doctor’s appointment can be tricky or take time. These seven essential apps can help you out. 

Playas de Málaga

If you’re a fan of the beach, this app could prove very useful during the long summer months in the city. It gives you information on each of the beaches in the Málaga area, as well as the possibility to reserve barbecue spots to have your own moragas (beach parties with barbecued sardines). Health and safety information about all the beaches is also provided along with any updates from the Málaga City Council Beach Area. Directions to get to any of the beaches, weather information and even digital postcards are also available. It can be used in both Spanish and English. You can download it via the AppStore here.

EMT Málaga

The app from the Málaga Municipal Transport Company is invaluable for those who regularly need to travel around the city on public transport. It can tell you the best route to get to your destination, how long you need to wait for a bus and even enables you to top up your EMT travel card with more credit. If you use the Malagabici public bicycle system, it also allows you to find out how many bikes are available at each station and even rent them with your EMT card. It’s available via the App Store here and via the Google Play Store here.

Aparcamientos Málaga SMASSA

This app, managed by the Sociedad Municipal de Aparcamientos y Servicios de Málaga, offers several utilities related to paid parking in the city. You can check how many free spaces there are in each municipal car park and in the different SARE parking areas. You can even pay for parking fees straight from your mobile. If you do this, it also allows you to renew the parking time and notifies you when it’s about to run out. In addition, it has a radar function that detects where the nearest parking space is. It’s available via the App Store here and via the Google Play Store here.

Too Good to Go

Too Good To Go is a great app that allows you to get your hands on food that would otherwise be thrown out.

According to the Too Good To Go website, around a third of food is wasted. Not only is that bad for the environment, but it also means that you can take advantage of loads of perfectly good (and tasty) food that would otherwise go straight in the bin. 

You can download the app here, and through the Apple App Store, Google Play y Huawei AppGallery. From there, you can browse the various local restaurants and businesses partnered with Too Good To Go, including Aloha Poke and Udon, and arrange to pick up your food from a nearby location. 

Salud Responde

Andalusia’s public health app is an invaluable resource for anyone registered in the public system. The app enables you to book an appointment without having to call on the phone, to modify any existing appointments or find out any laboratory results. You can also look up the answers to any frequently asked questions on many health-related topics such as vaccinations, allergies, sexual health, flu, maternity care and hospital admissions. It’s available via the App Store here and via the Google Play Store here.

PideTaxi

Whether you’re a regular taxi user or occasionally need to book one after a late night or an early morning flight, then PideTaxi may come in handy. It was launched by Radio Taxi Association of Spain and is associated with Unitaxi in Málaga. Through the app you can request a taxi to come straight away or book it in advance from any point in the city. You can also request special taxis such as a vehicle adapted for the disabled, a taxi for large groups or the transportation of pets. The app will also help calculate the trip price so that you’re not surprised at the end. It’s available via the App Store here and via the Google Play Store here.

Málaga CitySense

CitySense is a citizen participation project in Málaga that aims to generate new collaborative experiences for users in the city. It enables the city to gather data on the way its citizens use the city and its services by reading the sensors on your smartphone, which is all done anonymously and safely. It also gives users real-time data on the city from culture to science and weather, as well as various points of interest you may want to visit. You can find out more about the app here. 

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For members

WHAT CHANGES IN SPAIN

KEY POINTS: Everything that changes in Spain in May 2024

Mortgage price drops, help for young people to buy a house, new obesity medication, Catalan elections, lots of fiestas, public holidays and more - here's what's in store for Spain in May 2024.

Published: 29 April 2024 17:41 CEST
KEY POINTS: Everything that changes in Spain in May 2024

May 1st public holiday
El Día del Trabajador or Labour Day in Spain is a public holiday in Spain’s 17 autonomous communities and is held on May 1st. In 2024, May 1st will fall on a Wednesday, mid-week.

It will be a holiday in all regions across Spain, so no matter where you live you will most likely have this day off. Schools, most businesses and shops will also be closed on this day. 

May 2nd holiday in Madrid 
May 2nd is also a public holiday in Madrid and commemorates the day in 1808 when the population rose up against Napoleon’s troops in the Peninsula War.

Refusing to give into French demands to surrender, the Spanish made their last stand in an archway to the barracks before being killed.

Schools will be closed and streets of Malasaña will be filled with art, music, dancing and events to mark Dos de Mayo including stages set up in Plaza Commendadores, Conde Duque, Plaza San Ildefonso.

READ ALSO: What is ‘Dos de Mayo’ and why does Madrid celebrate it?

Number of tourists to soar
While officially May is the shoulder season in Spain, its good weather marks the start of the mass tourist arrivals, which usually reach their pinnacle in July and August.

The Ministry of Industry and Tourism is anticipating a surge in the number of tourists this May, however, with 9.49 million expected to arrive in May. This will be 14 percent more than in the same month of 2023, according to forecasts by Turespaña. It’s estimated tourists will spend almost €12,000 million in the fifth month of 2024, an increase of around 22 percent compared to the same period last year.

Catalan regional elections
Catalonia’s President Pere Aragonès announced in mid-March that he was dissolving the Spanish region’s parliament and would call early elections, after his proposed budget was rejected by the assembly.

This means that the new elections will be held on May 12th. Originally, they been set for early 2025. May 2nd is the last day to request a vote by mail, while May 6th is last day to vote by mail. On May 10th marks the electoral campaign ends at midnight and then May 12th will be the actual election day. 

Vigo Airport to close for refurbishment
Back in October 2023, the city of Vigo in Galicia announced that its airport would close in order to carry out refurbishments. The comprehensive remodel on the airport’s runway will leave the city without a working airport for almost the entire month of May, meaning no flights will be running in or out of the city. It will last from May 6th to the 30th and will include an investment of €30 million for the rehabilitation of its 2,400-meter deteriorated runway.

Two exclusive international flights from Barcelona
Barcelona-El Prat Airport will launch an exclusive route directly to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. In the month of May, Vietnam Airlines will operate two special flights, according to the Aeroinfo Barcelona-El Prat X (formerly Twitter) account. The first flight will take place on May 1st and the second on May 8th.

So far only these two flights have been announced and there are no more guarantees for future flights directly between Barcelona and the Vietnamese, so you might want to take advantage while you can.

Mortgage price drop for 4 million households

Banks are preparing to reduce mortgage re-payments, on average, by around €50 per month starting in the second half of the year. The fall in interest rates will be welcome news for four million people who have variable-rate mortgages and have seen their payments increase month after month, in recent years.

The 12-month Euribor averaged 3.609 percent in January, below the 3.679 percent in December. This is the third consecutive month that this index has fluctuated downwards. 

Help for young people to buy a house 
Starting in May, banks could help young people and families with children to buy a home by giving them access to state-backed mortgages. This measure will allow some 50,000 beneficiaries to access mortgage loans on favorable conditions, with the possibility of financing up to 100 percent of their first home.  It will be available for all those under the age of 35 with an annual income less than €37,800 gross and for families with children under their care, providing that they haven’t bought a property previously.  

READ ALSO: Spain’s govt to act as first home guarantor for young people and families

New obesity medication
From May 1st, one of the most anticipated drugs to fight obesity will become available in Spain. It has been developed by Novo Nordisk and is called Wegovy. The Danish company has warned that “given the unprecedented high global demand for Wegovy, the supply of this drug will be carried out in a limited and responsible manner in each country. It’s not currently included as part of the National Health System.

The new drug is a physiological regulator of appetite and calories and deals with receptors in the brain.

Help to complete annual tax return for over-65s
The income tax campaign for 2023-2024 is well underway, but many taxpayers are finding it difficult to complete their tax returns. Among them, those over 65 years of age tend to be the group with the greatest problems.

In order to solve this issue, the government is promoting a special aid plan for them, which will be offered in more than 500 small municipalities, in 46 provinces, with less than 3,000 inhabitants. Help will be offered from May 7th in collaboration with the different town councils. In order to benefit from it you will have to make an appointment starting on April 29th.  

Mother’s Day on May 5th

Unlike Father’s Day in Spain, which is always celebrated on the fiesta of San José on March 19th, Mother’s Day changes each year.

It is celebrated on the first Sunday in May, which this year will fall on May 5th. Spain has been celebrating Mother’s Day in this way, changing each year for the past 59 years.

It is typically celebrated by children giving gifts to their mothers and going for celebratory family meals.

Teachers’ strike in Valencia region

Teachers from public schools and institutes in the region of Valencia are set to go on strike on Thursday, May 23rd, according to The Platform in Defence of Public Education. The platform has called on teachers and families from all non-university public education establishments to participate in the mobilisation.

Students will also be able to join the strike from 3rd year of secondary school. The walkout will be staged in order to put a stop to cuts and force a negotiation that improves the conditions of the teachers and schools. 

A month of fiestas

May is a month packed full of festivals in Spain, particularly in the south of the country and the city of Córdoba. Córdoba in fact has a whole month of celebrations in May beginning with the Cruces de Mayo from April 26th to May 1st, where flower-adorned crosses will be set up across the city. This will be closely followed by the Patios Festival from May 2nd to 12th, in which visitors can see inside the city’s private walled gardens, decorated with flowers for the occasion.

A couple of hours to the southwest the Romería del Rocío will be taking place in the small Huelvan village from May 17th to the 20th. During the event more than one million people will make the pilgrimage to Rocío, many on horseback, filling its sandy streets with a lively atmosphere.

While in northern Spain, there are more flowery scenes at the Temps de Flors in the Catalan city of Girona. During the festival held from May 11th to the 19th, elaborate art installations created from plants and flowers will be set up across the historic Jewish quarter, city walls, cathedrals and churches.

Weather in May
According to meteorologists from Eltiempo.es this May will be warmer than normal throughout Spain, although the northwest and north of the peninsula will experience lower temperatures than the rest of the country.

The month will begin, however with above-average rainfall in the northeast of the peninsula, including the Balearic Islands, the Pyrenees, northern Aragón, Catalonia and Navarra. Rainfall is predicted to be slightly below average in the Canary Islands and some areas of southern Andalusia.

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