Mijas requests the enclosure of pedestrian overpasses on the A-7 to prevent suicides

Last month's suicide of a person who jumped from a suspended footbridge onto the A7 highway as it passes through Fuengirola towards Marbella has led the Mijas City Council to once again demand the government to fully enclose the elevated pedestrian walkways that cross the road through the municipality. The Council's intention is to stop the repeated use of these structures as dangerous points.

The concern, which has been conveyed to the General Directorate of Roads, a body under the Ministry of Transport of the Executive, focuses on these walkways becoming recurrent scenes from which people jump onto the roadway. The City Council insists on the need to act on their design and structure to prevent these incidents.

Among the measures proposed is an immediate technical evaluation of all the walkways in the section, aimed at preventing intentional falls. From this analysis, the application of effective physical solutions is proposed, such as the complete vaulting of the structures or the installation of enclosure systems and barriers that prevent access to vulnerable points.

While these definitive actions are being developed, the City Council also proposes the adoption of urgent provisional measures to immediately reduce the risk.

Last March 11, weeks before the last suicide, Mijas had already communicated to the State Roads Unit in Malaga a report from the Local Police warning of the problem. It noted the frequency of these incidents on such walkways, with fatal consequences, and proposed as a main solution their vaulting in the section between exit 1014 and kilometer 1029.

It also pointed out the added impact of these events on road safety, affecting drivers traveling on the highway, and in emergency management.

The City Council considers the repetition of these cases to make the situation an urgent matter. They believe that failing to act prolongs the risk, increases public alarm, and continues to expose both the affected individuals and others to severe consequences. “Mijas cannot resign itself to these walkways continuing to be the scene of new tragic episodes,” they state.