Monday, 27 October 2025, 18:58
The fourth fire in a month broke out at the Casillas de la Vía shanty town area on the western edge of Torre del Mar on the eastern Costa del Sol on Sunday 26 October. The blaze started in an uncontrolled rubbish dump containing old furniture and electrical appliances.
Malaga’s provincial firefighters and Local Police from Vélez-Málaga went to the scene where they extinguished the flames and cordoned off the area to prevent personal injury. Only material damage was reported.
The National Police are conducting an investigation to determine the cause of all four fires. The possibility that they were started deliberately has not been ruled out and sources consulted by SUR have suggested that the fires may have been started in an attempt to burn the accumulated rubbish, which is a common practice in this area of Torre del Mar. Another line of investigation suggests that it could be a local protest to demand a solution to the area.
The Casillas de la Vía is the only large settlement of its kind remaining in the Axarquía. Located next to the old N-340 road, at the western entrance to Torre del Mar, it is home to around fifty shacks, in which as many families, including children and elderly people, live in deplorable conditions, without running water, sewerage or safe electricity.
After several decades of broken promises and failed attempts, at the end of November 2024, Vélez-Málaga town hall unanimously called on the Andalusian regional government, as the owner of the land, to “once and for all” provide an immediate solution for the families who live there.