In short
We cover all nine municipalities of the Costa del Sol Occidental, from Torremolinos and Benalmádena to Marbella, Estepona, Casares and Manilva. The asbestos-containing material is removed by a company registered in the RERA working as our subcontractor under its own approved work plan, while we handle the coordination, any demolition around it and the clean-up. You can manage everything from abroad, in English, with photo updates.
Which towns do we cover on the western Costa del Sol?
The Costa del Sol Occidental comarca comprises nine municipalities: Benahavís, Benalmádena, Casares, Estepona, Fuengirola, Manilva, Marbella, Mijas and Torremolinos. It is a narrow coastal strip facing the Mediterranean, closed to the north by the Sierra de Mijas, Alpujata, Blanca and Bermeja, so most properties sit either on the coastal plain or on the first slopes behind it. We work in all of them, including the urbanisations owners usually name instead of the town: Elviria and Artola east of Marbella, La Cala and Riviera in Mijas, Bel-Air, Selwo and Cancelada around Estepona, and the coastal estates of Casares and Manilva.
Marbella is the capital of the comarca, but the asbestos questions we receive here are spread evenly along the coast. What they have in common is the owner: very often a foreign resident, a second-home owner or a buyer who has just found something grey and corrugated on the survey.
Where uralita typically hides in coastal villas and apartment blocks
Torremolinos was the first Costa del Sol resort to be developed for tourism, from the late 1950s, and the building boom spread west along the coast in the decades that followed – exactly the period when fibre-cement was the default material for tanks, pipes and light roofs. In practice that gives a fairly predictable list of places to check:
- Rooftop water tanks on apartment blocks and older villas, often disconnected but never taken down.
- Downpipes, soil stacks and rubbish chutes running inside shafts of residential blocks – see asbestos pipes and tanks.
- Carport, pergola and storeroom roofs in corrugated sheet, typical of villas built or extended before the material was banned.
- Garden sheds, pump houses and pool plant rooms with flat or corrugated fibre-cement panels.
A sheet that looks grey and ribbed is not automatically asbestos; only a sample analysed by a laboratory confirms it. Until then, treat it as if it were and do not drill, cut or pressure-wash it.
Communities of owners, gated estates and access
A large share of the work on this coast is in buildings under propiedad horizontal. Before demolishing walls, structure or façade elements in such a building the community must be informed, and works that affect common elements need the agreement of the owners' meeting – so a shared tank or a common soil stack is a community decision, not an individual one. Our page on asbestos in communities of owners explains how we work with the administrator and the president.
Access is the other local factor. Gated urbanisations have their own rules on working hours and vehicle access, and town centres such as Fuengirola or Torremolinos have little room for a skip. Whenever a container or scaffold has to stand in the street, an authorisation to occupy the public road is needed; in Benalmádena, for example, the fiscal ordinance does not allow skips or materials on the public road without a permit. Mijas uses an official declaración responsable for works and requires prior authorisation for works affecting the public road, and Marbella also has a declaración responsable procedure for works. Each town hall sets its own documents and timescales, so your técnico or the ayuntamiento confirms the procedure before we fix a date.
How a removal works when you are not in Spain
Most of our clients on the western Costa del Sol manage the job remotely. A typical sequence looks like this:
- You send photos, the address and what you know about the property, in English or Spanish.
- We arrange a visit, with you, your key holder or your property manager on site.
- The RERA-registered subcontractor prepares its work plan, which has to be approved by the labour authority of the province of Málaga before work starts.
- The asbestos phase is carried out under that plan; the material is wrapped, labelled and kept apart from all other waste.
- We carry out the rest – removing the old roof structure, rubble, clean-up – and send photos at each stage.
If the job is part of a larger demolition, our sister site covers the general demolition side of the western Costa del Sol. For the asbestos side alone, start with uralita removal.
Services
Removing asbestos pipes and fibre-cement water tanks
Fibre-cement water tanks, downpipes, chimney flues and buried asbestos pipes removed safely, with the surrounding work handled by us.
Asbestos removal for communities of owners
Shared uralita roofs, tanks and downpipes in apartment blocks: information for the owners' meeting and a coordinated removal.
Uralita roof removal on villas, garages and porches
Uralita roofs on villas, garages, carports and porches removed by a RERA-registered subcontractor and coordinated with the new roof.
Uralita removal for villas, apartments and overseas owners
All the uralita on a villa, apartment or finca removed in one coordinated job, with a single English-speaking contact and photos.
Frequently asked questions
Do you work in Benahavís and the inland estates as well as on the coast?
Yes. All nine municipalities of the Costa del Sol Occidental are in our service area, including Benahavís and the hillside urbanisations behind Marbella, Estepona and Mijas.
Our apartment block still has an old fibre-cement tank on the roof. Who decides on removing it?
If the tank is a common element, the community of owners decides it at the owners' meeting. We can provide a quote and a description of the work for the administrator to put on the agenda.
Can my key holder let the team in while I am in the UK?
Yes. Many jobs here run with a key holder or property manager on site; we agree the access arrangements in writing and send you photos of the work as it progresses.
Is the asbestos removed by your own staff?
No. The asbestos-containing material is removed by a company registered in the RERA that works as our subcontractor; we coordinate that phase and carry out the rest of the job.
Can a skip be left outside a villa in an urbanisation?
Only with the relevant authorisation if it stands on the public road, and subject to the urbanisation's own rules if the road is private. Asbestos waste does not go in an ordinary skip in any case: it is packed and handled separately.
We are buying a villa in Estepona with an uralita carport. What should we do first?
Ask for photos and, if possible, a laboratory analysis of a sample before completion. With that, we can describe the removal and the replacement options so you can factor them into your decision.
Do I need a licence to demolish a building with an uralita roof?
Your technician checks with the town hall. In Andalusia demolition generally goes by declaración responsable, but protected buildings, protected settings and archaeological zones need a licencia.
Do I need a health and safety coordinator?
When several companies take part in the works, the promotor appoints a health and safety coordinator during execution. Your technician will advise you.
What languages can I use with you?
English or Spanish, by e-mail, phone or WhatsApp.
How do you work with the RERA-registered company?
It works as our subcontractor: it prepares and files its own work plan and removes the asbestos, while we coordinate that phase and carry out the rest of the demolition.