The vehicle was located around 15:00 on the Camino de las Casillas, between Vélez-Málaga and Arenas. Paramedics were unable to save the life of the driver, the only occupant of the 4x4.
A man aged between 60 and 70 died this Friday after the 4x4 he was driving plunged down a 50-metre embankment in a rural area of Arenas, as confirmed by Diario Sur. The incident occurred on the Camino de las Casillas, between Vélez-Málaga and Arenas, near the well-known Hacienda de la Macarena.
The vehicle was located around 15:00, although initial reports suggest that the accident may have occurred earlier. The driver was travelling alone, so there were no other occupants to immediately alert authorities about what happened.
Emergency services from the Guardia Civil and the Provincial Consortium of Firefighters of Málaga were dispatched from the Vélez-Málaga regional park, along with emergency medical services. The challenging terrain in the area made access difficult to the point where the 4x4 had ended up after leaving the road.
Paramedics were unable to do anything to save the driver's life. He was a Spanish national who owned a rural home in this area of the Axarquía.
A judicial team, including a forensic expert, has arrived at the scene to recover the body and transfer it to the Institute of Legal Medicine (IML) of Málaga, located in the City of Justice, for an autopsy.
The Camino de las Casillas runs through a rugged environment, with steep slopes, elevations, and numerous accesses to homes and rural farms, including subtropical estates, olive groves, vineyards, and almond trees. The vehicle ended up about 50 metres below the road after plunging down the embankment. The Guardia Civil will now determine the specific circumstances that led to the vehicle leaving the road.
This accident occurs in a year with high accident rates on Málaga's roads. By the end of June, the General Directorate of Traffic reported 20 fatalities on interurban roads in the province of Málaga, three more than in the same period of 2025. At that time, Málaga was the Andalusian province with the highest number of road fatalities. The figure had increased to 22 fatalities between January 1 and July 16, according to provisional data from the DGT released later. Ten of those deaths had occurred on the A-7.
Summer worsened the statistics. During July and August, Málaga recorded eight fatal accidents with ten fatalities, compared to five accidents and five victims during the same months in 2025. The number of fatalities doubled, while accidents with victims rose from 177 to 235, nearly a 33% increase.
The Axarquía has also been affected by this series of accidents. On August 26, a 21-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man lost their lives after the motorcycle they were riding collided with the guardrail on the A-7 as it passed through Vélez-Málaga, at kilometre 951. They were two French tourists. Additionally, other fatal accidents have been recorded in the province in September, including a head-on collision on the A-7053 in Mijas, which resulted in one death and three injuries.
The accident in Arenas once again highlights the roads and paths in the interior, where driving is compounded by narrow routes, significant elevations, and complex terrain. The investigation will need to clarify what caused the 4x4 to leave the Camino de las Casillas and end up plunging down the embankment in an incident that, according to initial available information, did not involve any other vehicle.
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