A wildfire alongside the A-7 near Marbella forced the closure of a lane heading towards Malaga on Monday night, causing major traffic jams during the evening rush hour.
The blaze, which started in vegetation alongside the motorway near the Lunamar urbanisation, in Elviria, prompted authorities to close the right-hand lane of the A-7 at kilometre 1035 at around 6.30pm.
According to Spain’s Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT), the closure caused congestion stretching for around 7km in the direction of Malaga before the lane was reopened at around 8.15pm, allowing traffic to gradually return to normal.
Andalucia’s 112 emergency service said it received around 15 calls from residents reporting the fire shortly after 6.25pm.
The fire burned an area of vegetation between the motorway and the beach near Marbella’s Residencia de Tiempo Libre.
Firefighters from Marbella extinguished the blaze in around two hours, assisted by officers from the Guardia Civil, Local Police and ambulance crews.
No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire has not yet been established.
The Infoca wildfire service was not required to intervene, according to the 112 emergency service.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
