Offers of help flood in for ice-cream maker who lost factory in Axarquía fire

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Since Enrique Rodríguez launched his public appeal on social media after the blaze ripped through five industrial units in Cajiz on Friday 17 April, the entrepreneur says the family has been "overwhelmed" with people wanting to help get Nonna Helado Artesanal back up and running

Eugenio Cabezas

Tuesday, 21 April 2026, 16:54

Ever since Enrique Rodríguez launched his first public appeal on social media to ask for help to get his ice-cream company Nonna Helado Artesanal back up and running, following the fire which ripped through five warehouses in Cajiz on the eastern Costa del Sol on Friday 17 April, he says the response has been "overwhelming".

Rodríguez says that not only family members, but customers, professionals and individuals from all over Spain have sent messages of support to the business that has lost "everything".

The tragedy was triggered by the fire that affected several warehouses on the Los Puertas industrial estate, popularly known as the Cajiz industrial estate, which completely burnt down the artisan ice cream factory they had opened just five years ago. In a matter of minutes the flames took hold and destroyed the family business.

In a video posted on social media, at the gates of the still smouldering warehouse, Rodríguez explained the magnitude of the loss and asked not for "charity" but the tools to get back to work. "We are not asking for help to live, we are only asking for help to start working again," he summarised in a message that has quickly spread through social media. "We are overwhelmed and very grateful, they are calling us from all over Spain," he told SUR on Monday.

The insurance will not cover the damage suffered and Rodriguez knows that compensation will be slow in coming.

Rodríguez explained that the immediate way out is now to find a warehouse where production can resume as soon as possible, albeit provisionally, and does not rule out renting with an option to buy if a reasonable opportunity appears. The businessman has pointed out that he has already been offered machinery and other support, but he insists that without a suitable space he cannot resume activity, because the factory is unusable and one of the walls is in danger of collapsing.

In addition to this urgency, there is another obstacle: the insurance they had will not cover all the damage and Rodríguez knows that the compensation, as well as taking a long time to come through, will only cover part of the investment lost due to a depreciation in the cost of the machinery.

In order to start raising funds the company has launched a campaign to sell their ice cream in advance through their website in its different formats. "We are working harder than ever to come back better. Your support, our main ingredient," the company says.

"We have several proposals on the table and we are considering them, we don't want money in cash, just help to be able to resume the activity as soon as possible," says Rodrgíuez. He went on to say that the family had invested all their savings in the factory, to the point of selling the house where they lived to invest in the artisan ice cream parlour. Now, at 62 years of age and with 41 years of working, he is faced with the daunting prospect of rebuilding the business with hard work and very few assets to negotiate with the banks.

Luxury hotels

Nonna Helado Artesanal had managed to carve out a niche for itself in the gastronomic and hotel sector in the province. Its production reached haute cuisine restaurants, luxury hotels on the Costa del Sol and has several ice-cream parlours on Plaza de la Merced in Malaga city, Rincón de la Victoria and Torre del Mar. This trajectory, built up over years of hard work, has been devastated by a fire that also hit four other warehouses in the surrounding area.

The fire originated in a textile warehouse and spread rapidly due to the force of the wind, according to sources. Although there were no injuries, the material damage was considerable and the firefighters worked for hours to control the flames, especially in those warehouses with a large load of stored textile material.

Malaga's provincial firefighters consortium continues to work on extinguishing the fire, which is now completely under control and without risk of spreading, although it continues to generate a large amount of smoke.

Heavy machinery has been incorporated for demolition and debris removal work, initiating a combined intervention to access the source of the fire and achieve its definitive extinction.