Flooding of the river park will cost Fuengirola residents over 180,000 euros to clean up

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This area flooded three times in just four weeks over the festive season and emergency repairs are still ongoing

José Carlos García

Fuengirola

Wednesday, 21 January 2026, 17:36

In just four weeks, the river park of Fuengirola suffered three floods of varying severity. The first occurred on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 December due to Storm Emilia. The second happened two weekends later, on 27 and 28 December, and finally on Sunday 4 January, in these last two cases as a result of Storm Francis.

This second flood, on the last weekend of 2025, caused thousands of reeds and small tree branches to accumulate in the river park, eventually obstructing the river's natural flow as they dammed all the bridges at the river mouth.

The situation led Fuengirola town hall to contract emergency repair work to address the damage, which will cost the municipal coffers slightly more than 181,000 euros. The work was entrusted to Acsa Obras e Infraestructuras, which began working with heavy machinery and containers as of Tuesday 30 December, removing all the accumulated plant debris from the bridges and the rest of the river park once the water level had receded.

The following weekend (4 January), the last vestiges of Storm Francis caused significant flooding of the river Fuengirola, which ended up flooding the river park once more. The cleanup work continues today, involving not only the cleaning company, but also park maintenance workers and personnel from municipal operational services.

Zaragoza beach and stream

The effects of the storms are still evident on Castillo (castle) beach, which even today shows significant grooves and unevenness as a result of the strong waves that pounded it. Fuengirola council has sealed off several access points to this sandy area located at the foot of Sohail castle, where reeds from the ongoing cleanup work in the river park are piled up. For safety reasons, access will remain restricted until the work is completed, which the town hall expects to happen next week.

The river park cleanup is not the only cleanup work undertaken by the town council. Following the first flood, just ten days before the second one that triggered the emergency response on 18 December, the town hall began cleaning and clearing work in the area of the Zaragoza stream and several streets (Alondra, Tórtola, El Roble and Azucena), practically at the other end of the town. This cleanup contract was awarded on 10 December to the company Noceda Servicios Integrales Medioambientales SL for 69,303.83 euros after a tendering process.

The project covers an area of 52,069 square metres and is estimated to last 45 calendar days, so it is still on schedule.