Hamlet in Malaga's Guadalhorce valley undergoes name change: this is what it will now be called

The decision to change the name of the Alhaurín el Grande hamlet of Villafranco del Guadalhorce is now final. This area in the Guadalhorce Valley in Malaga province, which has been marked by its origins during Franco's dictatorship, will now carry a new name: Villa del Guadalhorce. The change was approved by the Alhaurín el Grande town hall on Friday, 1 August, endorsed by an absolute majority.

The change responds to compliance with the law of democratic memory in Spain, which seeks to suppress and eliminate references linked to the Franco regime in the toponymy of the municipality.

During a municipal meeting in March, the council had already presented a plan to initiate the process of changing the name. The proposal went ahead with the ruling team voting in favour and the opposition against.

The town hall stated that this measure is in line with the provisions of state regulations on memory, which oblige public administrations to "remove elements or names that exalt the dictatorship". In addition, the law establishes that the presence of such elements in public spaces must be corrected through actions such as the revision of the street map or the change of names, including names of urban centres or local entities, as in this case.

Following the name change approval, the administrative procedure for its definitive validation by the competent authorities is now open. Once the legal procedures have been completed, the new name will be incorporated into Malaga's official gazette and updated in signage, documentation and institutional records.

The decision to change the name of this hamlet located in the north of the municipality, separated from the main town centre by the Fahala river, has been generating disagreements for months. Vox spokesperson Antonio Jesús Fernández strongly rejected the name change, considering it a "capricious" political decision "lacking any real justification".

"Villafranco del Guadalhorce does not bear this name because of any exaltation of the former regime, but because there was a house known as 'la casa de los Franco', where traders stopped on their way to the municipality. Their descendants still live in the area and at least 17 residents today have that surname," said Fernández, who described the modification as an "the attempt to erase local history without evidence or residential consensus".

Members of the PP party in the town hall also expressed their disagreement with the name change and questioned the ruling team's priorities. They criticised the local government for making this a priority issue, when there are other problems in the hamlet that require attention, such as the lack of investment, the state of infrastructure, the improvement of public transport and healthcare. In addition, they denounce the lack of residential consensus and warn of the economic cost of updating signage and official documents. According to the PP, the local government "has preferred to focus on a symbolic gesture instead of solving real problems", "forgetting the real needs of the residents".