Quiet family life in a multinational residential complex in Mijas Golf has turned into daily dread. Residents who once enjoyed green spaces, a swimming pool with Mediterranean and Sierra de Mijas views, and easy access to golf, now report broken locks, neglected gardens, main gates left open for strangers at all hours, and letters demanding they pack up and leave within weeks.

Complaints started rolling in soon after the complex changed hands in 2023. Access control failed, CCTV stayed offline, fire equipment and handrails needed attention, sewage and drainage problems raised public health worries, and communal facilities including the pool and gym fell into poor shape. Some neighbours also brought up uncontrolled dogs and aggressive behaviour.

One resident documented formal notices about unrestricted access and damaged gates as early as June, followed by detailed health and safety reports in early July. Rental contract questions were raised in mid-July too, long before any violence. Rodrigo, a father of small children on the site said, “We can’t go on like this anymore. We’re already looking for somewhere to move to, but it’s not easy at such short notice.”

Intimidation from unidentified men

Letters ordering residents to leave arrived recently. Unidentified men described as “bully boys” from Torremolinos then turned up to enforce the message. They carried no official identification and showed none of the usual professional approach expected in Spanish eviction processes.

Many owners have stayed silent on formal correspondence. Many at the site refused to speak through fear of repercussions. Both Spanish and international tenants, the majority of whom pay rent and bills on time, now feel pressured and watched with unrecognised people and cars arriving through the night.

Nearby residents across the wider Mijas Golf resort lower their heads when the complex is mentioned. It has gained a reputation throughout the resort. Estate agents still list properties online under a different address in an apparent effort to protect the image.

Fatal attack inside the complex

Horror struck on the evening of August 10. A 25-year-old man of, left in a wheelchair after a previous shooting, was stabbed in the chest inside his home. Neighbours found him bleeding heavily and contacted the emergency services, but he later died. Guardia Civil officers attended after reports of the attack but found no sign of suspects at the scene. Security correspondence has intensified since then One resident sent urgent notices about previous deficiencies and demanded immediate repairs, including security installations which had fallen into disrepair. By August 12 a reply confirmed work on the locks had begun. Later that same afternoon apartments received formal notice to vacate. Some residents challenged it and sought legal clarification about the 15-day deadline that followed the raising of safety concerns.

Community reputation in tatters

What was once a tucked-away, safe spot for families with children has gained a bad name. Families still live there, paying their way and causing no trouble, yet the whole community now walks in fear. Similar worries have surfaced elsewhere on the Costa del Sol, including squatter occupations that unsettled another golf resort and a suspected double murder in a Mijas house fire. Mijas town hall has also moved to take over dozens of long-neglected urbanisations in a bid to improve services, as reported here, but even the council admits there is little they can do.

Local voices insist the sequence of unresolved security failings, the fatal attack, rapid lock work, and sudden vacation notices, deserves closer attention from higher authorities. Residents say they simply want the place made safe again so ordinary families can live without looking over their shoulders.

Tired of waiting, Torremolinos Town Hall has welcomed the Ministry of the Interior’s decision to put a new National Police station for the town and neighbouring Benalmadena into the second phase of the State Security Infrastructure Plan (Plise). Officials still want clear timelines after years of waiting. The go-ahead was given, and then nothing happened. Local residents are at their wit’s end waiting.

Council calls for urgent meeting and detailed schedule

Mayor Margarita del Cid said the local authority handed over a plot of more than 5,200 square metres next to El Pozuelo free of charge and completed every administrative step the ministry requested. The land has been accepted since 2024. “There is no reason for this project to sit without a defined date until 2034,” she stated in a council note.

Councillors have asked for an urgent meeting with Ministry of the Interior in Madrid and a detailed calendar covering project drafting, tender and the start of works. They argue the facility serves two large municipalities whose population multiplies for much of the year. Reports put the investment at €11 million.

Old station site eyed for protected housing

Separately, Torremolinos will push the central government to commit now to handing over the current police station plot on Calle Skal. The central-location land would go towards publicly protected housing once the new building opens.

“We are not asking for another announcement or an eight-year window. We are asking for a calendar. After years of paperwork, land transfers and repeated requests, Torremolinos and Benalmadena need to know when the project will be drawn up, when it will go out to tender and when the diggers will arrive,” the council repeated.

Both town halls have treated the new station as a long-running joint demand. Inclusion in the police 2026-2034 programme is viewed as progress, yet local leaders say concrete dates remain essential so the infrastructure can move forward without further delay.