A major communications outage left more than 120,000 people across inland Malaga without reliable phone or internet services on Thursday.

The blackout began at around 10.30am, when mobile data, calls and messaging services suddenly stopped working in Antequera and several surrounding towns.

The disruption affected multiple operators and made everyday digital services virtually impossible to use.

According to Telefonica, the outage was caused by a severed fibre-optic cable located between Malaga and Villanueva de la Concepcion.

Engineers were deployed to repair the damage, with services beginning to return gradually from around 1pm. However, calls and mobile data remained intermittent in some areas during the early afternoon.

The disruption extended well beyond Antequera.

Ronda suffered an almost total loss of mobile and internet coverage, affecting its town hall, the Hospital de la Serrania and the local Andalucian Employment Service office.

Businesses were also unable to process card payments, forcing some customers to use cash or abandon purchases.

Coin and Cuevas del Becerro were among the other municipalities affected, while problems were reported across much of the Serrania de Ronda.

Initial estimates suggested the outage had disrupted services for more than 120,000 residents across inland Malaga.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.