For years driving east from Malaga has been a real endurance test, improving bit by bit as the motorway was extended, bit by bit.  First, Nerja was easy to get to in only 35 minutes from the airport and then last year the section to La Herradura opened, leaving the 9km secition to Almunecar unfinished, four years behind schedule and way over budget.  In the summer months it was impossible to predict journey times on the existing winding and mountaineous coast road; a few kilometres could easily take a couple of hours, and such difficult access does act as a deterrent to both property and tourism markets.

Now, finally the long delay is over and the A-7 will be open to Almunecar at the end of May, giving a journey time from Malaga airport of about 45 minutes whereas previously it could easily take two hours and more at busy times, making the eastern Costa del Sol and the Costa Tropical a much more attractive option for property buyers.  The difficult terrain has made this section complex and costly and the collapse of an 80 metre high viaduct in November 2005, when six construction workers lost their lives, brought the project to a standstill while an enquiry into the accident was carried out.  With this section open the Mediterranean motorway is nearly completed and soon it will be possible to cover all the 1100 kilometres between Malaga and Barcelona on motorway.