"Costa del Sol" is not an autonomous community, a province, or any other formal administrative unit — it is a touristic and geographic name for the Mediterranean coastal strip of the province of Málaga, itself part of the autonomous community of Andalucía. There is no single official population, tax or registry figure for "Costa del Sol" as such; any statistic must be sourced at the municipal or provincial level. The provincial capital is Málaga city, which per INE's Padrón continuo (table 2882) had 599,063 registered residents as of 1 January 2025. The province of Málaga as a whole had 1,791,183 residents as of the same date (INE), rising to a provisional continuous-census estimate of roughly 1,802,417 by 1 October 2025 — Málaga is one of the fastest-growing provinces in Spain. Andalucía's regional capital and seat of government is Seville, not Málaga.
For relocators, "Costa del Sol" typically refers to the string of coastal municipalities running along Málaga province — including Málaga city itself, Torremolinos, Benalmádena, Fuengirola, Mijas, Marbella, Estepona and others further along the coast — rather than to any single administrative destination. This matters practically: residency paperwork, property registration, regional taxes and healthcare enrolment for anyone moving to "the Costa del Sol" all run through Málaga provincial offices and Andalucía's regional government (Junta de Andalucía), not through a separate Costa del Sol authority. Per Junta de Andalucía figures (Instituto de Estadística y Cartografía de Andalucía, IECA), Marbella alone had 160,478 registered residents in 2025. The area has one of Spain's highest concentrations of foreign residents, and tourism and international real estate are dominant economic drivers, reinforced by Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport — Spain's fourth-busiest, with a record 26,760,549 passengers in 2025 (Aena).
Key Facts
Administrative structure: Costa del Sol is a coastal strip of the province of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalucía — it is not its own autonomous community or province. Málaga city is the provincial capital; Seville is Andalucía's regional capital.
Population — Málaga city: 599,063 (INE Padrón continuo, 1 January 2025).
Population — Málaga province: 1,791,183 (INE, 1 January 2025), with a provisional continuous-census figure of approximately 1,802,417 by 1 October 2025.
Population — Marbella: 160,478 (Junta de Andalucía, Instituto de Estadística y Cartografía de Andalucía, IECA, 2025 figure).
Coastal municipalities commonly grouped under "Costa del Sol": Málaga city, Torremolinos, Benalmádena, Fuengirola, Mijas, Marbella, Estepona, and further towns such as Nerja and Vélez-Málaga to the east and Manilva and Casares to the west. This is a touristic/geographic grouping, not a fixed legal list, and different tourism and planning bodies (e.g., the Diputación de Málaga's Turismo y Planificación Costa del Sol) may draw the boundary slightly differently.
Economy: Dominated by tourism and international real estate; per IECA/regional migration data, Málaga is the leading province in Andalucía for foreign immigration, receiving 38.6% of the region's entries from abroad. An unconfirmed but widely repeated press figure puts Costa del Sol's foreign-resident population at roughly 300,000 (about 18% of the area's population) — this could not be traced to a single official statistical release during this research session and should be treated as indicative rather than confirmed.
Connectivity: Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport — a record 26,760,549 passengers and 186,990 flights in 2025 (+7.4% / +6.9%), per Aena's official 2025 traffic report, making it Spain's fourth-busiest airport (after Madrid-Barajas, Barcelona-El Prat and Palma de Mallorca). British, German, Dutch, Italian and French markets are the largest international feeders. Málaga María Zambrano station connects to Adif's high-speed AVE line to Madrid.
Climate (AEMET, Málaga Aeropuerto station, 1981-2010 normals, light touch — see the dedicated weather document for detail): among the mildest winter climates on the Spanish mainland. Annual average temperature 18.5°C, average maximum 23.3°C, average minimum 13.7°C, annual precipitation 534 mm.
Administrative quirk: Andalucía has no co-official regional language — Castilian Spanish is the sole official language of public administration. Regional taxes (including ITP) are administered through the Junta de Andalucía rather than a separate regional tax agency; there is no Andalucía-specific equivalent to Cataluña's ATC.
Tax note: Andalucía's property transfer tax (ITP) rate is set regionally and differs from Madrid's, Cataluña's and the Comunitat Valenciana's — see NomadPilot's closing-costs documentation for the current rate rather than re-deriving it here.