A very dense sea fog rolls in and creates traffic problems on the Costa del Sol with 10km tailbacks on A-7

It has been an intense morning on many roads along the Malaga coastline due to the weather this Tuesday morning, 9 May. A particularly dense episode of the local ‘taro’ (a maritime advection fog) reduced visibility forcing drivers to slow to a crawl. It has left tailbacks of up to ten kilometres on the A-7 motorway during the rush hour, according to reports from the Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT) road management centre.

The worst problems were between 7.30am and 8.30am, from Fuengirola to the Calaburras lighthouse, where visibility was very low, as can still be seen on some of the DGT cameras in the area. By around 9am the fog had mostly cleared and only a kilometre of slow-moving traffic remained, which is normal in this area regardless of the weather.

Other busy traffic roads were also affected by the appearance of the sea mist, such as the A-355 highway, which connects the Guadalhorce with Marbella; and the A-368 (Mijas-Fuengirola).

Meanwhile, Malaga Airport was put into a pre-alert situation at around 7am due to low visibility and it was feared that it would be necessary to divert flights to other airports. However, at around 9am the wind blew the ‘taro’ away from the airfield and then there has been no problem with the visibility and there have been no diversions. "The operational situation is normal and the forecast is to improve," said airport control sources.

Other busy traffic roads were also affected by the appearance of the sea mist, such as the A-355 highway, which connects the Guadalhorce with Marbella; and the A-368 (Mijas-Fuengirola).