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Image of the town centre of Nerja. E. Cabezas 112 incident Death of Costa del Sol resident investigated due to possible poor combustion of a wood-burning heaterThe 48-year-old man, who lived alone, was found unresponsive at his home at 9.30pm by a relative
Nerja
Wednesday, 24 December 2025, 11:31 | Updated 11:44h.
A tragedy has unfolded in Nerja, in the Costa del Sol, the night before this Christmas Eve. The Guardia Civil has opened an investigation to clarify the circumstances of the death of a resident of the easternmost coastal town of Malaga province. The 48-year-old was found dead at his home in the central San Francisco street, in the Las Protegidas neighbourhood, on Tuesday night.
The alarm was raised at around 9.30pm, when a relative alerted the emergency services that a man was unresponsive in his home. The Guardia Civil, medical staff from the 061 health emergency service and officers from the Nerja Local Police force were called to the scene. On arrival, the medical staff could only confirm the man's death.
According to the first hypotheses of the investigators, the death could be related to the poor combustion of a wood-burning brazier that the man had lit to warm himself, which could have caused a possible carbon monoxide poisoning. However, it will be the autopsy that will definitively determine the cause of death.
Consternation
The judicial protocol was immediately activated to proceed with the removal of the body. The deceased, who lived alone, was a well-known person in the Las Protegidas area which has caused considerable outpouring of grief among residents and shopkeepers in the area.
four members of the same family, two adults and two minors of Moroccan origin, died inside their home, in a case that shocked the Axarquia region. The investigation pointed to carbon monoxide poisoning as a result of a faulty heating system.