Torre del Mar residents demand cleaning services, improved access and garden maintenance after 15 years of complaints

The residents’ group has highlighted failures in cleaning services, pedestrian access routes it considers impassable, raised pavements, damaged rubbish bins and dry or neglected green spaces. The group maintains that these shortcomings prevent the Ensanche Oeste, which is the area of new buildings to the west of the coastal town, from being treated as "a neighbourhood in its own right".

According to AVEOtorre, the area is not included in the regular cleaning schedule of the municipal cleaning company Althenia. The association claims that this situation leads to a build-up of dirt and inadequate maintenance, particularly during the months when tourist numbers are at their highest.

Residents also point out that the neighbourhood has more than 10,000 square metres of green spaces, but does not have permanent staff to maintain them. “We can see how the trees are withering and the green spaces are turning yellow,” the organisation stated in the press release issued to announce the new protest.

Transport remains another major source of conflict. AVEOtorre highlights the existence of sections covered in earth and stones, ramps that do not meet accessibility standards and poor connections to both the beach and the centre of Torre del Mar.

Complaints intensify during the summer due to the annual Weekend Beach music festival and the Santiago and Santa Ana Feria (fair), both of which take place in the vicinity of the homes. Those affected say the disruption begins in June and continues until August, with noise, restrictions on movement and a build-up of rubbish.

The association has pointed out that last summer there was a prolonged presence of rats, which it attributes to rubbish that had built up during major events. It also criticises the blocking of the only direct access to the beach from the footpath, located next to the accessible beach area and states that some residents choose to temporarily leave their homes on the noisiest days.

In just a few years, the Ensanche Oeste has gone from being a virtually undeveloped area to one with around 1,300 homes. However, AVEOtorre maintains that the increase in population and tax revenue has not been matched by a corresponding provision of public services. The organisation adds that the area continues to be officially identified by the town planning code SUP.T-12, despite having requested its own name on several occasions.

Last Friday’s protest comes just one month after another protest held on 26 June to demand safe and accessible access between the district and the seafront. That was the second protest on this issue, following the one organised in February, after more than 18 months of using a temporary path made of earth and stones due to the disappearance of the old tarmac road as a result of construction work for new housing developments in the area.

AVEOtorre states that over the past year it has submitted more than 50 written submissions to the town hall's municipal registry, of which just half a dozen have received a reply or resulted in any concrete action. This latest protest now extends the demands to include street cleaning, parks, rubbish bins and managing the impact of major events.

The town hall has made improving the cleanliness and maintenance of residential estates one of its priorities, with the aim of addressing the existing disparities between the various neighbourhoods of Vélez-Málaga. The council has also made progress to gradually take over public services that until now had been the responsibility of the residents themselves, such as street maintenance, street lighting, landscaping and cleaning. The measure affects around 10,000 residents.

The process began in October 2025 with the inclusion of 23 housing developments spread across Caleta de Vélez, Almayate, Benajarafe, Torre del Mar, Chilches and Lagos, as part of an amendment to the General Urban Development Plan aimed at putting an end to neighbourhood charges that have been in place for years.

The mayor, Jesús Lupiáñez and the deputy mayor, Jesús Pérez Atencia, have argued that this inclusion responds to “a long-standing demand” and will enable progress towards a model of municipal management that is “more equitable, flexible and efficient”.

The integration of these areas will be accompanied by new municipal contracts to strengthen services. The town hall is working on a specific tender for the maintenance of pavements and road surfacing, while preparing new tender documents for parks and gardens and for street cleaning.

The latter is set to increase annual investment from eight to twelve million euros, incorporating additional resources, mechanisation and territorial coverage so that the residential areas that have been taken over by the town hall enjoy the same standards of cleaning and maintenance as the rest of the municipality.