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Emergency numbers on the Costa del Sol: who to call, and when
Someone hurt or in danger: call 112. In English, now. Don't waste a minute on the other numbers. The five under it cover the rest of daily life. Everything below that is for when you have a minute to read.
On this page
- Your town's own lines
- 1. 112: how to speak so it works
- 2. Which police, and the neighbours
- 3. Fire: bomberos, INFOCA and the hills
- 4. Health: 061, the health centre, after hours
- 5. Your car: towed, the DGT, and an accident is 112
- 6. Denuncias: where and how, and if you are arrested
- 7. Alerts on your phone
- 8. Protección Civil, and why I wear orange
- 9. Water, power and gas
- About this page and who wrote it
- Where every number was read
Your town's own lines
The lines that are different from town to town. The rest is the same everywhere and sits at the top.
This town's own page, with its lines and questions →
Every town, west to east: Sotogrande, Guadiaro and San Roque · Manilva and Sabinillas · Casares · Estepona · Benahavís · Marbella and San Pedro · Mijas, Las Lagunas and La Cala · Fuengirola · Benalmádena · Torremolinos · Málaga city · Rincón de la Victoria · Torre del Mar and Vélez-Málaga · Nerja.
1. 112: how to speak so it works
One number. Learn to use it well.
Say this to 112
- Necesito una ambulancia en [dirección], [pueblo].I need an ambulance at [address], [town].
- Hay un incendio en [lugar].There is a fire at [place].
- Hay un accidente en la carretera [nombre], kilómetro [número].There is an accident on the [name] road, kilometre [number].
- Habla inglés?Do you speak English? They usually do. Just ask.
112 is always the one you call in an emergency. Health, police, fire, sea, it doesn't matter. Free from any phone, even with no credit. They answer in Spanish, English, French, German and Arabic.
Be short and direct. Where you are first: the town, the street, a landmark they can find. Then what happened and how many people. Answer what they ask. Don't hang up until they say so.
112 doesn't send the ambulance itself. It is a control centre. They pass you to the right service in seconds, and that service comes. If they put you through, say the address again.
The Junta has one of these control centres per province. I have seen them work from the other side, during a fire. Very impressive. People are moving before the call ends.
Beach flags and jellyfish, the guide →
Does 112 speak English on the Costa del Sol?
Yes. The Andalusian 112 centre answers in Spanish, English, French, German and Arabic, 24 hours. The call is free from any phone.
What do I say when I call 112?
Where you are first. The town, the street, something they can find. Then what happened and how many people. Stay on the line until they tell you to hang up.
2. Which police, and the neighbours
Three police forces. For daily life you need one.
Say this to the Policía Local
- Hay mucho ruido en [dirección] y no para.There is a lot of noise at [address] and it does not stop.
- Se han llevado mi coche, matrícula [número].My car has been taken away, plate [number].
Policía Local, 092, is your town's police. Parking, traffic in town, noise, a party that won't stop, a lost cat, a neighbour you worry about. You don't need 112 for that. Call them directly. They still take it seriously.
Noise: call while it is happening and give the address. They come or they call. They can measure it, warn, fine. If it is every night, write down the dates and go to the town hall too. A written complaint moves faster than ten phone calls.
Policía Nacional, 091, is in the bigger towns: crime, denuncias, ID and immigration papers. Guardia Civil, 062, covers the countryside, the small towns, the roads between towns and the coast. Around here a lot is theirs.
Someone in danger right now, a robbery in progress, an accident: 112. Don't stand there choosing a police force.
Which police do I call for noise or a party?
The Policía Local, 092, while it is happening. They come or they call. They can measure it, warn and fine.
Policía Nacional or Guardia Civil: which one covers my town?
The bigger towns have a Policía Nacional station. The countryside, the small towns and the roads between them are Guardia Civil. Your town's own lines say which.
3. Fire: bomberos, INFOCA and the hills
Bomberos in town, INFOCA in the hills. 112 for both.
Wildfire Watch
Not official, free
Every fire in Andalucía on a map, the stage it is in, the planes and crews on it, and a warning when a new one starts near you. Made by one developer, fed by INFOCA's official updates. Not official, very good. Get it.
App Store Google Play Website
Most of the coast is covered by the provincial fire service. Their main station is in Estepona, with smaller posts in Manilva, Nerja and Rincón de la Victoria. Marbella and Málaga city have their own bomberos. You call 112 either way. In Marbella and Málaga city 080 also works.
A fire in the hills is INFOCA, the Junta's forest fire service. Planes, helicopters and crews that do only this. From 1 June to 15 October any fire is banned in forest land and around it. Driving off the roads there too.
See smoke in the hills? Call 112 and say where. Don't assume someone else did. Then install Wildfire Watch. It shows every fire in Andalucía, the stage it is in, the planes and crews on it, and it warns you when a new one starts near you. Not an official app, but very good. Most people here should have it.
I was mobilised for the Benahavís fire with Protección Civil. Road blocks. Driving someone to the one pharmacy that had their medication. Answering people who didn't know if they had to leave. Helping the firefighters where they told us to. What I learned: when they say leave, leave. And keep the roads clear for the trucks.
Who do I call for a fire in the hills?
112. Say where the smoke is. INFOCA, the Junta's forest fire service, does the hills. The bomberos do the towns. 112 sends the right one.
When is fire banned in the countryside?
From 1 June to 15 October. Any fire in forest land and around it, and driving off the roads there.
4. Health: 061, the health centre, after hours
Emergency: 061 or 112. Everything else starts at your health centre.
After hours the bigger towns have an urgencias door at the health centre. Salud Responde answers day and night, appointments and questions, and tells you where the nearest open door is.
What you show at the door. Registered here: your Andalusian health card. Visiting from the EU or the UK: your European card, the EHIC or the GHIC, and the public hospital takes you. Private insurance: the insurer's own emergency line and the private hospitals, Hospiten in Estepona, Quirónsalud in Marbella, Vithas Xanit in Benalmádena. Nobody is turned away in an emergency. The papers come after.
061 sends a public ambulance to the nearest public hospital. If you want a private hospital, call your insurer's emergency line and they send their own.
Bring a list of your medication and your allergies if you can. It is the first thing they ask and the last thing you remember.
Pharmacies: every town has a duty pharmacy at night, on a rota that hangs on every pharmacy's door and sits on the pharmacists' official finder, linked below. Nine on this coast never close, from Estepona to Málaga. They are in the table above, and under their town.
Tonight's duty pharmacy in your town, the pharmacists' official finder →
Is 061 the same as 112?
061 is the health emergency line for Andalucía. 112 gets you the same people. Either one works in an emergency.
Where do I go after hours if it is not an emergency?
The urgencias door of the health centre, in the bigger towns. Salud Responde, 955 545 060, tells you the nearest open one, day or night.
5. Your car: towed, the DGT, and an accident is 112
An accident with anyone hurt is 112. The rest of this chapter is for the day the car is simply gone.
Towed. You come back and the car isn't there. First thing: look on the ground and on the nearest post. The Policía Local usually leaves a sticker with where it went. Sometimes there is no sticker, and that is scary, because you think stolen. Call the Policía Local of that town and give them the plate. They know. Then you go to the depósito municipal, you pay the fine, the tow truck and the hours it sat there, and you drive out. Happened to me once, and to clients all over the coast.
An accident with someone hurt, or a car that can't move, is 112 before anything else. A small accident with nobody hurt needs no 112: move the cars if you can, fill in the friendly form (the declaración amistosa), both sign, photos of everything.
The DGT is for information: the roads, closures, your fines. An accident is never the DGT, an accident is 112, every time. miDGT is their app: your licence and the car's papers on the phone, your fines, your points.
My car was towed. What do I do?
Look on the ground and on the nearest post for the Policía Local sticker. It says where the car went. No sticker: call the Policía Local of that town with the plate. Then the depósito municipal. You pay the fine, the tow and the hours, and you drive out.
What do I do after a small accident with no one hurt, and when is an accident 112?
Anyone hurt, or a car that cannot move: that accident is 112, before anything else. Nobody hurt: move the cars if you can, fill in the declaración amistosa with the other driver, both sign, photos of everything.
6. Denuncias: where and how, and if you are arrested
The police report, and why you need it.
Say this at the station
- Quiero poner una denuncia.I want to file a report.
- Me han robado [la cartera / el pasaporte / el coche].They stole my [wallet / passport / car].
A denuncia is the report you file with the police. The insurance asks for it after a theft. So does the consulate for a lost passport. Damage to the car or the house, threats, same thing.
Any Policía Nacional station or Guardia Civil post. Many can be started online on the Policía Nacional site and signed at the station later. Bring your ID or passport and everything you know: times, plates, names, photos.
The paper is in Spanish. Ask for help with the language if you need it. The stations on this coast are used to it. If you are a visitor, there is a phone line in English that takes the whole report and you only go to the station to sign, any station, within three days.
If you are arrested: you can stay silent, you get a lawyer (yours or a duty one, free), an interpreter if you need one, a phone call, a doctor, and they must tell your consulate if you ask. Those are the law, not a favour. Ask for the lawyer and the consulate before you say anything.
Where do I file a denuncia?
Any Policía Nacional station or Guardia Civil post. Many can be started online on the Policía Nacional site and signed at the station. Bring your ID or passport and everything you know.
Do I need a denuncia for the insurance?
Yes. Theft, a lost passport or wallet, damage, threats: the insurer and the consulate ask for it.
7. Alerts on your phone
Four apps, and one alert that needs no app.
112 Emergencias Andalucía
Official, free
The Junta's own app. One button calls or chats with 112 and sends your exact position with it. For the day you can't say where you are.
App Store Google Play Website
AlertCops
Official, free
The Policía Nacional and Guardia Civil app. An SOS button, a chat with the police, and your location shared with them or with someone you trust.
App Store Google Play Website
Wildfire Watch
Not official, free
Every fire in Andalucía on a map, the stage it is in, the planes and crews on it, and a warning when a new one starts near you. Made by one developer, fed by INFOCA's official updates. Not official, very good. Get it.
App Store Google Play Website
miDGT
Official, free
The DGT's app. Your licence and the car's papers on the phone, your fines, your points.
App Store Google Play Website
What is the alert that buzzed every phone?
ES-Alert. The emergency centres send it through the phone masts to everyone in a danger area. No app, no sign-up, and it rings through silent mode. The top level, Alerta de Protección Civil, cannot be switched off on iOS 15.6 or Android 11 and newer.
Which emergency apps are worth having on the Costa del Sol?
The 112 Andalucía app, AlertCops for the police, miDGT for the car papers, Wildfire Watch for fires. All free.
8. Protección Civil, and why I wear orange
The town's volunteer emergency group. I'm one of them, in Estepona.
Protección Civil is the town's volunteer emergency group. In Estepona we support the police, the firefighters and the health teams. Events, fires, floods, searches, road blocks, first aid. In 2020 the Estepona group did more than 9,000 hours over 325 actions.
I'm one of the volunteers. I have done events and I have done fires. When the phones buzzed for the rains, when the Benahavís hills burned, the people in orange were there. I was one of them.
Anyone who lives here can join. Training first, then the uniform and the radio. The form is on the town hall's Protección Civil site.
What does Protección Civil do?
Volunteers who support the police, the firefighters and the health teams. Events, fires, floods, searches, road blocks, first aid. Every town has a group. Estepona's did more than 9,000 hours in 2020.
How do I join Protección Civil?
Through your town hall's group. Training first, then the uniform and the radio. Anyone who lives here can apply.
9. Water, power and gas
The grid, the pipe and the tap have their own numbers.
Power: the grid here belongs to e-distribución, Endesa's network company. Ask for the incident number and keep it.
Gas from the pipe: if you smell gas, open the windows, touch no switch, everyone out, and call 112 from outside.
Water: every town has its own company. The number is on your water bill.
Who do I call for a power cut?
e-distribución, the grid company here: 800 760 706, free, 24 hours. Ask for the incident number.
What do I do if I smell gas?
Open the windows, touch no switch, everyone out, then call 112 from outside.
About this page and who wrote it
Every town on this coast has its own police station, its own health centre, its own after-hours door, and nobody tells you which one is yours until you need it. This page does. The six numbers at the top work everywhere on the Costa del Sol, from Sotogrande to Nerja. Under them, your town's own lines. Then nine short chapters: which police to call, what to do when your car is gone, where to file a denuncia, what happens in a fire, the alerts your phone gets, and how the volunteers work.
I'm Filip. I sell property here and I volunteer with Protección Civil in Estepona. I have made these calls, and I have been on the other side of them. Every number on this page was read on two official pages and carries the day it was checked. If one is wrong, tell me and it changes the same day.
Save the six to your phone, print the sheet for your door, and read the chapters once, on a day when nothing is wrong. That is when they are useful.
Where every number was read
Two official pages per number, read on 20 September 2026. A number that cannot be read on two official pages is not on this page.
- 112 Any emergency: www.juntadeandalucia.es, www.juntadeandalucia.es
- 061 Health emergency: www.juntadeandalucia.es, www.juntadeandalucia.es
- 092 Policía Local: www.marbella.es, www.juntadeandalucia.es
- 091 Policía Nacional: www.marbella.es, www.ocu.org
- 062 Guardia Civil: www.marbella.es, www.ocu.org
- 112 Fire: cpbmalaga.es, www.marbella.es
- 016 Violence against women: violenciagenero.igualdad.gob.es, www.juntadeandalucia.es
- 024 Someone thinking of ending their life: www.lamoncloa.gob.es, www.xatakamovil.com
- 955 545 060 Salud Responde: www.juntadeandalucia.es, www.sspa.juntadeandalucia.es
- 900 202 202 Danger at sea: www.salvamentomaritimo.es, www.transportes.gob.es
- 011 Roads and traffic: www.dgt.es, sede.dgt.gob.es
- 800 760 706 Power fault: www.edistribucion.com, www.ocu.org
- 902 102 112 Denuncia by phone, in English: x.com, www.juntadeandalucia.es
