Two arrested in protest against tree felling in Nerja

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The Guardia Civil has arrested a woman and a man for disobedience after refusing to identify themselves during work on a Larios estate in the Vega de Maro

Eugenio Cabezas

Friday, 24 April 2026, 14:30

Two people were arrested during a protest against the felling of trees in the Barranco de Maro area of Nerja on the eastern Costa del Sol. According to sources close to the investigation, the man and woman were arrested as they both refused to show identification when asked by Guardia Civil officers.

The detainees are a 45-year-old Spanish woman and a 30-year-old Ita Italian origin, according to sources. Both have released them without charge. The events occurred on a plot of land of some 5,000 square metres where heavy machinery was working and where there were some thirty trees, including custard apple and olive trees, according to the information provided by the complainants.

The intervention took place when several people gathered to try to stop the work. According to the platform Acción por Maro y su Agricultura (Ama), the two arrested persons remained on the site while waiting for the arrival of Seprona (the Guardia Civil's nature protection branch) to check the legality of the action. They refused to leave when the officers asked them to do so. The group maintains that the protest was "peaceful" and questions the proportionality of the police action.

Opposition to plans by Larios

The police action takes place in a context of growing conflict in the Vega de Maro, following Larios' decision to terminate some 400 leases on agricultural estates and the start of demolition of buildings and land redevelopment work last January. These measures have generated strong opposition among a group of tenants, residents and agricultural groups, who denounce the social impact and the loss of the traditional model of market gardens. Around a hundred people took part in a protest in February.

Ama has denounced the work being carried out, arguing that it includes the felling of around a hundred non-invasive trees and the extraction of roots on non-urbanisable land that has special protection and is close to an area with a heritage status. In the opinion of the group, this type of action should require administrative authorisations and a prior environmental assessment.

These points have been included in an extension to the complaint filed with the Guardia Civil, to which SUR has had access, which describes tree felling, work with heavy machinery less than 100 metres from a natural watercourse, actions close to historic irrigation channels and a possible impact on fauna during the nesting period. The letter requests the intervention of Seprona, the verification of urban planning licences and sectorial authorisations, as well as the adoption of precautionary measures if there is an environmental risk.

Larios maintains that the objective is to recover a strictly agricultural use of the land and to remove any buildings and other structures the company considers to be illegal

Larios has previously stated that that the objective is to recover a strictly agricultural use of the land and to remove any buildings and other structures the company considers to be illegal and to move towards a "more orderly and professional" use of the land. All this while the urban planning project to build a golf course, 500 homes and three hotels, which Nerja town hall forced to restart in accordance with the new Andalusian territorial regulations, remains blocked.

Wednesday's protest and the two arrests show that the conflict has entered a new phase in which the social, environmental and police spheres are intertwined. While the machinery continued working in the area on Thursday, the groups announced new protests and maintained their demand for greater intervention and transparency on the part of the environmental authorities and the town hall.