Several properties evacuated and roads closed due to latest wildfire on Costa del Sol

The Junta de Andalucía's Plan Infoca brigade for the extinction and prevention of forest fires reported a fire in Benalmádena on the Costa del Sol at around 12.45pm this Monday, 1 September. Photos and videos from the scene show a thick and striking cloud of smoke and flames in the area of Santágelo Oeste, close to the A-7 motorway, halfway between the districts of Benalmádena Pueblo and Arroyo de la Miel, near Vera Cruz and the Rocas Blancas housing estates.

Six houses on Camino de las Canteras have had to be evacuated and there are traffic restrictions in the area. All of Benalmádena's fire brigade teams, alongside the local civil protection service and the Infoca brigade by land and air, are working to extinguish the fire.

Firefighters and Local Police personnel are at the scene. Plan Infoca helicopters are continuously discharging water. There is a strong smell of smoke and some sparks have reached dozens of metres from the burning area, down the slope that separates the houses and the road. A similar fire broke out last week in the neighbourhood of La Leala, on the border with Torremolinos.

The municipal emergency services are reporting a brush fire. Two brigades, an operations technician, an environmental officer, two groups of forest firefighters, a fire engine, a semi-heavy vehicle and a light vehicle from the Plan Infoca firefighting system are currently working in the area.

The town hall has asked the population to keep access roads clear and to follow the instructions of the authorities and the information only from official sources at all times.