Properties cheaper in Roquetas de Mar than Malaga?

You've asked the easiest question I have ever answered. First Law of Profit & Loss is Supply and Demand. Costa del Sol has more demand and consequently property prices there are higher. 

Incidentally, while we looked for a holiday home in coastal Spain over two years we settled on Mojacar Playa and one of the main "selling" points for us was the amount of British expats who settled there for retirement after running businesses in Costa del Sol. Those guys don't make many mistakes.

Not sure that does answer the question, which seemed to me  more 'why is the demand in one place rather than another'?

The answer is historical, initially due to transport. Malaga was more accessible: Spanish mountain roads were more terrifying than today's happy dual- carrageway EU road-users can imagine, so it took a long long time to get anywhere.  It helped if you had a nice yacht and could arrive by sea.  The whole coast was very poverty stricken, a rich tourist would dip a toe in the water, it would be worth supplying them and so facilities grew, then less rich people moved to nearby cheaper areas and so on.  Later, government took a hand - and deliberately turned Benidorm into a happy high rise and money-earning resort for example, then expanded and built more airports. The first big tourist expansion was all-inclusive holidays and firms wanted to go to established easy access places.

Appearance is everything. Sell the Dream and downplay the hurdles. Eat cowpads, ten thousand flies can't be wrong. The real estate agents in CdS are better than most at Spainspeak. But, like you said accessibility is a factor too. I need Malaga airport like I need a new pandemic. I hope I can live a long life and enjoy the low rise of Mojacar Playa against the high rises of CdS where on a clear day you can see the ground. Don't tell anybody, we love the place as it is.

Almeria airport generally only has flights to local British airports (apart from Gatwick) between May and October.  Although you can fly to Malaga you will either have to 1. Hire a car and drive 2 hours, 2. Take a taxi - again 2 hours, or book a bus, which will inevitably take even longer.  I have been going to this area for 30 years and time and again they say they are going to extend the airport operating months, but have yet to see it.  On the plus side what you have to spend on taxis can be offset by the cheap cost of flights to Malaga, although wouldn’t travel there on a Friday as this used to be the day that the stags and hens chose to fly, likewise avoid the return flights on Sundays.  Also it is a lovely area around Roquetas de Mar.  It is very rare that you hear of anyone going there only once, they usually return again and again.  Very flat for anyone who has a wheelchair.

1. Covid has put a stop to expanson nearly everywhere. If I were running Almeria airport I'd be hoping to win back some of the business lost and forget about expansion for quite some time to come.

2. Brexit is probably stalling matters too. It's a wait-and-see situation for many including UK expats.

3. The most helpful future outlook will be the rail link between Alicante and Almeria and beyond. Have no doubt about this, but it's literally a case of when. When eventually this comes into being the province will be opened up to many areas in Spain. Literally, it's a case of light at the end of the tunnel.

4. Like I said earlier it's all about appearance. That shirt in the box although more expensive looks a hell of a lot better than the identical shirt hanging loosely on the rail. Therefore, most are buying the box, not the shirt. 

These moments of sad reality have been brought to you by a chronic cynic Matthew.

Sadly Covid has buggered everything up.  We had 3 flights cancelled this year to Almeria and it looks as though Jet2 aren’t going from East Midlands next year.  Have booked again for May from Birin the faint hope we can get back there.

Just announced on Irish national television news:- Ryanair adding to their existing order for Boeing 737 Max and now have ordered 200 new aircraft. Michael O'Leary hopes to recover the amount of passengers lost due to Covid regulations and hopes to extend his services on the no-brainer that other airlines have reduced theirs. I never thought I'd be praising Ryanair. It's good news for Spain and other warm countries. 

Not sure whether I would ever fly with them, but if they are going to be last man standing then might not have much of a choice.  Jet2 were very good repaying the cost of cancelled flights, didn’t even have to get in touch with them they just credited the money straight well before the flights were due to go.

Lets hope these ones stay in the air...............