Residents evacuated due to Benahavís fire go home as situation is brought under control

Malaga province fire

Residents evacuated due to Benahavís fire go home as situation is brought under control

The fire, which had led to the closure of the AP7, was officially declared as 'stabilised' on Friday evening

Añádenos en Google The local sports hall was set up to accommodate those who had been evacuated. (Plan Infoca)

Isabel Méndez

Málaga

11/07/2026 a las 12:55h.

At 8.30pm on Friday, the Infoca Plan declared that the fire, which had broken out early on Thursday afternoon in the municipality of Benahavís, ... was "stabilised". An hour later, the regional minister for health and emergencies, Antonio Sanz, announced that the emergency phase – Operational Level 1 of the Infoca Plan – had been lifted.

Work continued in the area to bring the fire under control, although, as Infoca noted on its X account, “it is developing favourably as there are no active fronts allowing the fire to spread unchecked”. Specifically, 47 firefighters remained on the ground on Saturday morning, along with three fire engines and a medical unit.

The 257 residents (132 from Marbella Hills and 125 from Caserías del Esperonal) who were still evacuated due to the fire were returning to their homes in stages, and the precautionary lockdown affecting 370 people in the Montemayor residential estate was lifted, according to a statement issued by EMA 112. Early on Friday morning, residents of Flamingos (1,013), Parque Botánico (687) and Four Seasons (96) – a total of 1,796 people – were able to return to their homes.

Operations are taking place in the area tonight. (CPB)

The emergency phase, Operational Situation 1, refers to fires which, although they could be brought under control using the standard means and resources available to the Regional Government of Andalucía, trigger this response due to their scale and the resources required to extinguish them, or because measures need to be taken to protect the public.

The Andalusian Emergency Agency (EMA) urges the public to exercise extreme caution and follow the instructions of the emergency services, and in particular not to approach the area of the fire to avoid unnecessary risks.

Sanz appealed to people’s common sense, asking them to avoid going near the area affected by the fire, as the presence of onlookers could hinder the work of the emergency services.