The parents of Sheila and Sumaya, the two young women injured by the falling branch in Miraflores de los Ángeles, announce that they will claim compensation from the City Council. Sumaya, 21, remains in serious condition in hospital.
The families of Sheila and Sumaya, the two young women injured last Saturday by the fall of a large branch from a eucalyptus tree in the Miraflores de los Ángeles area, have announced that they will demand compensation from the Málaga City Council for liability. They believe that the City Council is responsible for the maintenance of the trees and for ensuring safety in urban squares.
Javier, Sheila's father, has confirmed to this newspaper that they are already in contact with their lawyer and will begin the proceedings when he returns in September. His daughter is not hospitalised, but she has sustained injuries and has had to be treated at her medical centre for anxiety.
Sumaya's mother, Asmaa Ghanou, also plans to file a lawsuit. "Right now we are only focused on her recovery, but yes, we will file a lawsuit. It is clear that the tree was unhealthy and that is what has shattered my daughter's life," she stated.
Sumaya, aged 21, remains hospitalised in serious condition awaiting surgery in the coming days. The fall of the branch caused her to break both shoulder blades, one of which pierced a lung. "She cannot eat and is very anxious, although she is already on the ward, she is still very unwell," reported this resident of La Palma.
For the claim to be successful, the physical and psychological injuries must be quantifiable in monetary terms, using the traffic accident scale as a reference; it must be proven that the damages directly resulted from the branch falling; and that there was a lack of maintenance, pruning, or inspection by municipal services. The City Council would be exempt if it could demonstrate that the fall was due to an unforeseen and unavoidable phenomenon, such as a storm or extraordinary wind gusts certified by the State Meteorological Agency.
However, in this case, the detachment occurred at three in the afternoon on a Saturday in August, with high temperatures and no wind. The initial analyses from the Environmental Sustainability Area of the City Council are inconclusive regarding the cause. "The eucalyptus in question showed no noticeable damage and was classified as having a low risk of falling, following a review conducted in October 2025," officials have assured, while the investigation into this structural failure continues.
A report from the company Talher, responsible for maintaining green areas in this part of the city, confirms that "the detached branch presented green tissue and showed no apparent signs of rot, cavities, previous fractures, significant pest attacks, or other visible structural defects that would have predicted its structural failure."
Retired Botany professor from the University of Málaga, Baltasar Cabezudo, believes that both families have "all environmental legislation in their favour." "Trees are living beings and not all behave the same way. It is very complicated to know why this happened, but it is a problem for the City Council," he emphasised.
"They have all environmental legislation in their favour. It is complicated to know why this happened, but it is a problem for the City Council."
Cabezudo advises the City Council not to seek "common solutions" and to study each tree as an "individual." "The ones who know best are the neighbours who live around, they are the first to notice that something is wrong," he pointed out. Residents of Pedro Gómez Sancho street claim they warned the City Council several times about the state of the large eucalyptus trees.
"I would never plant a eucalyptus in a city. It is a species that is not native to Málaga and grows immensely," confessed the expert, who insists that it is "impossible to know if a branch is going to fall." "Branches fall due to too much or too little moisture. In this case, I believe it could have been due to a weight problem. Let's say trees self-manage, and they shed leaves and branches that are not beneficial to them," he noted.
To file the claims, the families will need to provide documentation of the emergency services' intervention, graphic evidence of the branch and the tree, witness statements, and all medical reports of injuries, treatments, sick leave, rehabilitation, and discharges for both young women.
The City Council has six months to respond to the claim. If it does not respond, it will be considered dismissed by administrative silence, which opens the way to go to the Contentious-Administrative Court. The amount is not fixed: it is calculated according to the Law 35/2015, the Traffic Scale, which is the scale used by courts to assess damages to individuals.
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