Andalusia’s regional government lifted the confinement order for the town of Benahavís and its outlying areas on Monday, 14 September, after overnight firefighting efforts made progress on a wildfire that began in the Málaga municipality on Sunday. Antonio Sanz, the regional vice-president and minister for the Presidency, Health and Emergencies, said the fire’s incident command had determined that the town’s residents were no longer at risk.
Preventive evacuations remained in place for the Montemayor, La Coja and Benahavís Hills developments, affecting about 50 people. They had not needed temporary accommodation. Sanz said a patient taken to the burns unit at Virgen del Rocío University Hospital in Seville the previous day was in stable condition. The fire remained active, and the Infoca emergency plan continued at emergency phase, operational situation 1.
The only area with fire activity was at the head of the fire, north of Montemayor, close to ground affected by a fire in 2022. Numerous hotspots remained, and crews had not ruled out isolated flare-ups during the day. The secured area extended from Montemayor Castle to the Benahavís road on both flanks. Some overnight flare-ups near Benahavís Hills and the La Coja home closest to the town were extinguished without complications. There was no active fire front, but crews continued containment and mop-up work.
The A-7175 road sector below Montemayor Castle had no activity and remained under observation. Intermittent activity, without a continuous front, was reported at La Coja’s northwestern head in steep terrain. The most active area was west of the castle, where crews worked overnight using direct attack with water lines. Infoca’s provisional estimate put the area affected at 329 hectares of pine forest and scrubland.
The day’s objective was to close the perimeter by creating hand lines and using water lines where other methods were not possible. Heavy machinery had been used near Benahavís to strengthen the perimeter. The work was expected to continue throughout the day because wind gusts could cause flare-ups in the afternoon. Crews and aircraft were also monitoring for possible reactivations around midday as winds strengthened and temperatures rose.
About 200 Infoca personnel were working that morning, alongside six crews from the Málaga Provincial Fire Consortium and Marbella Fire Service. Seven aircraft were in operation. The ground response included eight forest firefighting groups, three BRICA specialist brigades, six water tenders and two bulldozers, among other personnel and equipment. More than 300 personnel, 22 aircraft, three bulldozers and 14 water tenders had taken part in the response during the emergency.
Forecast conditions were expected to be similar to Sunday’s, with lighter winds. The most challenging period was expected between noon and 4 p.m., with southeasterly gusts of up to 35 kilometres per hour. Temperatures were forecast to remain below 28°C, with relative humidity around 50% during the middle of the day.