Malaga coastal town residents concerned over 'infection outbreak' in their building following corpse discovery

Health

Malaga coastal town residents concerned over 'infection outbreak' in their building following corpse discovery

An association of homeowners in Rincón de la Victoria is demanding the disinfection of the building where the police discovered the body of an elderly woman

Dead flies in the hallway in the Rincón de la Victoria building where the deceased elderly woman lived. (SUR)

José Rodríguez Cámara

06/05/2026 a las 12:53h.

The residents of a building in the coastal town of Rincón de la Victoria (Malaga) are demanding disinfection following the discovery of the body of an elderly neighbour on 26 April.

The deceased, There, was almost 90 years old. Originally from Belgium, she moved to the town with her husband over a decade ago.

Her upstairs neighbour, Isabel, feared that something bad had happened to her. She had noticed There's absence about two weeks before the discovery and had been unsuccessfully trying to contact her.

"We alerted the Guardia Civil and they managed to enter the flat through the window, so they wouldn't have to break down the door. They found her dead in the living room and, from what they told us, it's possible she had been dead for quite some time. Her body was in an advanced state of decomposition. It's very sad," Isabel said.

An investigation by a court in Malaga is working on the case. While the protocol is progressing, the matter has taken another turn, which directly impacts the residents of the residential complex, where about 30 families live together.

According to the neighbours who knew her, There had children and grandchildren. She spoke of them, but they never saw them. Not even when There's husband died, did they come to Malaga. They also reportedly never visited the property, which remains closed and has not been properly sanitised, as is customary at the scene of a death.

"We have no one to contact and we don't know anyone who has keys to her house," Isabel said.

"There is a very strong smell, as there are still fluids and remains of death there, there will be larvae and all kinds of parasites," the residents said. The fact that they live a few metres from a "source of infection" is alarming.

They have been working to find solutions to what they define as "a public health problem" since the day after the discovery of There's body.

The first thing they did was ask the Guardia Civil. They learnt they had to appear in court to request the disinfection, which they have already done through their lawyer. "They told us that this process could take some time," Isabel stated.

Protocol

Looking for a quicker solution, they went to the town hall, confident that it had "a protocol for these cases", but There's door is still closed.

The local ruling team has confirmed that they received a written request on Thursday, 30 April. According to their response, on Monday, as soon as possible after the public holiday long weekend, the competent technician made two visits to the building to draw up a report and forward it to the municipal legal services, who in turn reported on Tuesday to the case officer, so that they can act accordingly regarding the need to clean the property.

"We don't want anyone to solve anything for us. At some point, the association would cover the costs and then seek reimbursement from the family, but we need to be able to enter with authorisation, to end the risk of leaving the flat like this any longer," Isabel said. She fears the situation will only worsen as temperatures rise.

"There are many people at risk, including more than ten children. These are our primary residences and we can't go anywhere else," another resident, Carlos said.