On Tuesday 24 March 2026, the final eviction of the 62 homes at number 2 calle Sarmiento, in Manilva, was carried out.
The court-ordered operation, which involved a heavy deployment of approximately one hundred Guardia Civil officers who had been gathering in the llano negro car park from 07:00, brings an end to months of uncertainty and legal extensions for the families affected
During the morning there were moments of great tension and distress among the residents themselves and the security forces.
Among those evicted are people in situations of extreme vulnerability, including minors, elderly people and citizens with a recognised disability and serious health problems.
Despite the initial climate of confrontation, the residents ended up leaving their homes peacefully, faced with the impossibility of halting the court eviction order and of standing up to the large security operation put in place.
Immediately after being forced out of their homes, the affected residents went to the doors of Manilva Town Hall to demand emergency housing solutions. As they shouted outside the doors, they claimed that «the mayor of Manilva promised 10 days of alternative accommodation and today neither social services nor, least of all, the mayor himself have turned up».
The protesters condemn the «inaction» of the local authority and the lack of alternative housing, especially after having repeatedly asked the Town Hall to exercise its right of pre-emption (Derecho de Retracto) to acquire the property (auctioned for around 14,800 euros per home) and thus prevent the eviction.
The eviction, ordered by Court of First Instance no. 1 of Estepona, was initially scheduled for last February, but was postponed until today due to a lack of police officers available on that date because of adverse weather.
The families claim they have been the victims of speculation by a «vulture fund», the building’s current owner, even though many of them had rental contracts and had kept up their payments for years.
For his part, the mayor, Mario Jiménez, had previously stated that the Town Hall did not have the necessary budget to buy the block.
In recent weeks, the situation had escalated politically, with parliamentary groups and social platforms demanding urgent measures which, in the end, have not prevented dozens of families from being left on the street today.
