Criminal law · Fuengirola and Mijas
Arrests, drink-driving, bar fights, scams and domestic violence allegations. Phone or message us whenever it happens, nights and Sundays included, and you will be dealt with in English.
Talk to a lawyer today
If a friend or relative has been arrested in Fuengirola, often after a night out or halfway through a holiday, two things matter first: knowing which station they are in, and keeping them from answering questions before a lawyer has seen them. Ring us on +34 711 29 14 66, day or night, and we start from that call.
Written and reviewed by Jimena Sastre, criminal lawyer.
Updated on 4 October 2026.
Arrests rarely happen in office hours. We answer at night and at weekends, head to the station where the person is, and stay with them through their first interview, which is the one that carries most weight later on.
Both towns come under the Fuengirola courts. The investigating judges there take turns on duty and see everyone arrested in either town. Arrests in Benalmádena or Torremolinos go to the courts in Torremolinos instead.
The investigation stays in Fuengirola, but the trial is usually held in Málaga. The criminal courts in Málaga try offences punishable by up to five years; anything heavier goes up to the Provincial Court (Audiencia Provincial). Minor offences and guilty pleas at the duty court are dealt with in Fuengirola itself.
Fuengirola has large British, Irish, Finnish and Swedish communities, and the Finns even have their own school here. Every summer the town fills up with holidaymakers as well. If any of them is arrested, Spanish law gives them a free interpreter and they can ask for their consulate to be notified. We explain the case in English to whoever has been arrested and to the people waiting for news back home.
Arrested a moment ago?
At the station, the person arrested can stay silent, ask for the lawyer they want and have an interpreter at no cost. They can have someone told where they are and, if they are foreign, their consulate. The police can hold someone for 72 hours at most; by then the person is either let go or taken to a judge.
Where to start
WhatsApp or phone us with whatever you know, even if it is very little, and we will say what to do first.
My partner was arrested after a late-night fight
The medical report decides a lot: an injury that needed treatment, such as stitches, is a more serious offence than one that only needed first aid. We ask at once for the bars’ CCTV, which by law is normally deleted within a month.
I was breathalysed on the A-7 and was over the limit
A reading above 0.60 milligrams in breath is a criminal offence, and the court also takes away your right to drive for one to four years. We check the device, whether the ten-minute gap between the two readings was respected and how the police report describes your symptoms.
I was stopped driving on my UK licence
Once you are resident, a licence issued outside the EU is only valid for six months from the date you became resident. After that, driving on it is a traffic offence with a fine. It is a crime if a Spanish court had banned you or you had lost all the points on a Spanish licence.
Our holiday home was broken into
We report it, ask for fingerprints and the urbanisation’s camera footage to be collected, and join the case as the injured party so it carries on after you fly home.
My father lost his savings to a phone or investment scam
Fake calls from the bank and holiday clubs that later offer, for another fee, to recover the money already lost keep turning up on this coast. We ask quickly for the receiving accounts to be frozen and file a criminal complaint.
My ex has reported me for abuse
A specialist court deals with it, and a protection order is usually requested, which must be decided within 72 hours. We prepare that hearing with you and explain what you must not do from then on.
I am on holiday and have to fly home
For minor offences, someone living elsewhere can send a written defence or be represented by a lawyer instead of attending. When the prosecution's request is no higher than two years in prison, the hearing can take place without you, provided you left an address where court papers can reach you.
The court has taken my passport
Handing in your passport or signing on at the court every so often are the usual ways of making sure you stay. If they keep you from going home or working, we ask the judge to swap them for something else.
Worth knowing
From 0.25 milligrams per litre of breath (0.15 for new and professional drivers) you face a traffic fine: 500 euros and four points, or 1,000 euros and six points above 0.50. It becomes a crime at 0.60, or lower if your symptoms show the alcohol was affecting your driving. Refusing the test is a separate crime, punishable by six to twelve months in prison.
An injury that heals after first aid is classed as a minor offence and only fined. If it needs treatment, such as stitches, it can mean a prison term of between three months and three years, or a fine instead, and two to five years if a bottle, a glass or another dangerous object was used.
Breaking a door or window to steal from a home carries two to five years in prison, even if the owners were away that day. Taking something without forcing entry is classed as a minor offence and only fined when it is worth 400 euros or less; above that, the prison term ranges from six to eighteen months.
Ordinary fraud is punished with between six months and three years in prison. It rises to one to six years above 50,000 euros, when many people are affected, or when the victim is left in particularly serious financial difficulty, as when someone loses their retirement savings.
If you accept, at the duty court, the sentence the prosecutor asks for, it is reduced by a third, provided the offence carries no more than three years and the resulting sentence is two years or less. With no previous convictions, the prison term is normally suspended, but the conviction stays on your record.
How we work
You tell us who has been arrested, where, and what you think it is about. Before we hang up you know our fee for attending.
Before any statement we speak to the person alone and work out with them what is worth answering.
Before the investigating judge we push for release and for the lightest possible conditions.
We gather footage, medical reports and witnesses, and appeal anything that was done wrong.
We set out in figures what a deal would mean and what you risk at trial, and you decide.
FAQ
Yes. +34 711 29 14 66 takes arrest calls round the clock, for Fuengirola and the rest of Spain. Non-urgent matters wait for office hours.
Usually not while he is held by the police. His lawyer can see him in private, and through us you will know how he is and what comes next.
Sometimes, yes. If the sentence requested is two years in prison or under, and the summons went to the address you gave, the judge may go ahead without you being there. Having a lawyer follow the case while you are away is the way to avoid surprises.
Yes. Besides the fine, community service or prison, the court bans you from driving in Spain for one to four years, whether your licence is Spanish or foreign.
Not necessarily. Domestic violence against women is prosecuted by the State, and the prosecutor can carry on even if she no longer wants to.
Ask for habeas corpus. The person must then be brought before a judge, who decides within 24 hours whether the arrest is lawful or must end.
Yes, the whole Costa del Sol and any court in Spain.
Before we leave for the station we tell you over the phone what attending the arrest will cost. Anything after that is set out in a written quote.
Client reviews
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