Drawn up by the Enrique Bardaji team of architects, the plan also includes a detailed analysis of the situation of all the housing in the municipality. This analysis has produced the figure that more than 23 per cent of the homes in Estepona are empty or shut up and not in use. That percentage is ten points above the average for the province of Malaga as a whole, for which the figure for unoccupied property is 13 per cent.

In the 137 square kilometres of the municipality of Estepona there are over 35,000 homes. Of these, less than half - 15,000 - are the owners’ main homes. The rest are empty (8,000) or second homes (12,000). This last group represents 35 per cent of the total and is just one point above the percentage for the province of Malaga as a whole.

In 1960 there were only 3,000 homes in the town. Ten years later this figure had risen to 7,000, while by 1991, the 1970 figure had tripled. The construction of 88,000 new homes is envisaged in the new master town plan in the coming years. Most homes in Estepona are owner-occupied, according to the study carried out by the architect in charge of the new plan. He used data from the housing census and the National Institute of Statistics. Only 12 per cent of the homes in Estepona are let, and out of the ones that are owner-occupied 30 per cent are mortgaged.

The data from the housing census, drawn up in 2001 and incorporated into an analysis of the situation in Estepona, include an assessment of any problems that buildings may have. Thirty-five per cent have problems of noise outside, while 40 per cent of homes lack green areas nearby.

In the analysis included in the preliminary master town plan, the state of the buildings that are the inhabitants’ permanent homes is also reflected. Ninety per cent of them are in good condition while 1.62 per cent are in poor condition and 0.61 per cent are derelict.

As far as size is concerned, 48 per cent of those which can be considered main homes measure between 61 and 90 square metres.