Smoking banned to prevent repeat of Costa del Sol fire

By James Bryce

SMOKING, barbecues and bonfires will be banned in parts of the Costa del Sol following the recent fire which destroyed several homes and hundreds of hectares of land.

Mijas Town Hall announced it will also revise its emergency procedures and will carry out land clearances to reduce the risk of it happening again.

The ban will affect Sierra de Mijas – the area most heavily affected by the blaze – with barbecues on non-building private land requiring municipal permission.

Improvements to the emergency plan will include all rural roads being added to GPS systems in a bid to aid emergency vehicles.

The announcement comes after it emerged that the fire was caused by a bonfire.