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Shortly after 8.00am on Wednesday, the Policía Local arrived at Sacaba Beach on the western outskirts of Málaga, where around 60 motorhomes remained despite an Ayuntamiento deadline for all vehicles to leave by Tuesday. Two teams from the Operational Support Group and four patrol cars are taking part in the operation, after a group of residents refused to go. Most of the nearly 200 vehicles that had been in the area had already left of their own accord and relocated to Guadalmar, but those who stayed have now prompted a formal enforcement response.

 

The situation has been building for years. Residents of the neighbouring Sacaba Beach urbanisation have been raising the alarm for some time, and their frustration runs deep. "This has been our home for six decades," they wrote in an open letter, "an environment where many families have grown up and dedicated their entire lives to building this community."

 

Their complaints range from grey and black water being discharged directly onto the sand, to noise, fires, drug dealing and what they describe as direct threats when they try to raise concerns. Fernando Rueda, president of the Sacaba Residents' Association, was blunt. "We've been warning about this for years. It has been getting worse every day."

 

He was also careful to add that the most vulnerable people among the caravan community should be found proper accommodation, and that a dedicated campsite with full services would help address many of the underlying problems.

 

But the picture from inside the caravan community tells a rather different story. Rafael Sánchez, one of the residents' spokespeople, describes a community of working people who simply cannot afford to rent in a city where housing costs have spiralled. "We are people who work in Málaga," he said. "We are here because it was the only way out."

 

On the question of the environment, he was equally direct: "If this is our home, how can we possibly make it dirty?" His broader message to the Ayuntamiento was simple: "We don't want them to give us an apartment or a piece of land. We just want to live with dignity."

 

Fellow resident Juanfran Rama questioned the Ayuntamiento's priorities altogether. "Why is money being spent on an eviction instead of solving the underlying problems?" he asked, arguing that basic improvements such as lighting, waste containers and a police presence would eliminate many of the issues associated with the site. Notably, no resident had received individual official notification of the eviction before it was enforced.

 

Manuel Luque, who has lived in a building near Sacaba since childhood and grew up alongside people who now live in the caravans, offered a telling perspective. "The real problem isn't that people are living here," he said. "The real problem is that housing in Málaga is extremely expensive."

 

Perhaps the most affecting story belongs to Juan Antonio Rodríguez, who arrived at Sacaba in 2018 and was diagnosed with leukaemia last year. His doctors had prepared him for a bone marrow transplant, conditional on having suitable housing in which to recover. That housing never materialised, and the transplant was delayed.

 

Just days ago, he learned the disease had progressed to the point where a transplant is no longer possible. He now faces aggressive chemotherapy, and he's still living in his van, despite medical reports warning that it poses a serious infection risk for someone with a compromised immune system. "An infection, in my situation, could be fatal," he said.

 

The Ayuntamiento has said the operation is being carried out in response to sanitation, waste and community issues, implemented at the request of local residents' associations and in agreement with the landowner. Whatever the outcome of today's eviction, the housing pressures that brought people to Sacaba in the first place aren't going anywhere.

 

 

Image: Policía Local Sacaba