Dozens of families, including young children, have been thrown out of their homes in a dramatic early morning eviction on the Costa del Sol.

A total of 62 families were forced out of properties in the Sol y Golf urbanisation in Manilva on Tuesday, after a court-ordered eviction was finally carried out following earlier delays.

It came after a judge ruled that the residents were ‘occupants’ – in other words squatters, and not tenants – a charge many of them deny as they claim they have been paying rent.

Police arrived at around 9am to execute the order, which had originally been scheduled for February but was postponed due to bad weather and lack of available officers.

Witnesses described a heavy police presence as officers moved in to clear the homes, with critics calling the operation ‘disproportionate’.

Dozens of the affected were later seen gathering outside Manilva town hall to demand the resignation of the mayor.

Among those affected are children, elderly residents and people with disabilities, many of whom now have nowhere to go.

Some families left carrying their belongings in bags, unsure where they would spend the night. After being evicted, many headed straight to the town hall in desperation, seeking help.

‘We’ll sleep on streets tonight’

One resident, Laura Constanza, said she was left homeless with her two daughters, aged just three and 15.

She claimed residents felt they had no choice but to leave without resistance.

‘We were told we could leave or be forced out,’ she told Malaga Hoy. ‘So we left. We didn’t want any trouble.’

She described tense moments as police broke into homes.

‘They were about to smash the door. I was waiting to open it because I didn’t want them to force entry, but they didn’t even knock, they just hit it,’ she said. ‘I told them there were children inside.

‘I have nowhere to sleep. I went to social services and they wouldn’t let anyone in.’

She also criticised the local council for failing to provide emergency accommodation, claiming no alternative housing or temporary shelter has been offered.

‘They say the sports hall isn’t suitable to live in, but the street is?’ she said. ‘My daughters are going to sleep outside tonight.’

The eviction order was issued by a court in Estepona last September, but for many of those affected, the reality has only just hit and it’s left dozens of families without a roof over their heads.

Why are the families being evicted?

The eviction comes down to a long-running property dispute that stretches back more than a decade and centres on a failed development, unpaid debt and a change of ownership.

The homes in the Sol y Golf urbanisation were originally built by a developer that collapsed after taking out a loan in 2014 and failing to repay it.

That debt was later sold on through banks and investment funds until a new company took control of the properties in 2023. Once it became the legal owner, it went to court to recover the homes.

A judge in Estepona ruled that the current residents did not have a valid legal right to remain, classifying them as occupants rather than tenants.

That decision paved the way for the eviction, which is being carried out through a mortgage repossession process.

But the residents say the reality is far more complex. Many claim they have lived there for over 10 years, paying rent and community fees first to the original developer and later to linked companies. Some say they even signed contracts with an option to buy.

Several families also insist the homes were initially uninhabitable, lacking basic utilities like electricity and water, and that they spent their own money making them livable.

Over time, rents increased, but many continued paying regularly until the current owner took over and stopped accepting payments.

The dispute now hinges on whether those agreements should count. Lawyers for the residents argue that up to 40% had formal rental contracts, while others were willing to pay or even buy the properties at a reasonable price. However, the court did not recognise those arrangements as legally valid.

With appeals rejected and the eviction order upheld, the process has moved forward despite claims of vulnerability among dozens of residents, including families with children, pensioners and people with disabilities.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.