The peace of a quiet village on the Costa del Sol Spain is shattered by gunshots and the arrival of troops

THE pretty village of Benahavis which sits in the hills above San Pedro Alcantara is buzzing with news of the arrival of large numbers of Guardia Civil officers as well as troops as what appeared to be three gunshots were heard this afternoon (Sunday March 29).

It’s a fairly peaceful little place which relies on visitors to the many restaurants and has a large population of foreigners, many of them British living there but with the lockdown it is currently very quiet.

At around midday however, a man was spotted just sitting on the pavement in the deserted main street by Guardia Civil officers who told him to move off.

Videos show him walking across the road into the shade of some trees when what appear to be three gunshots are heard although nothing can be seen or where they came from or whether anyone was hurt.

One theory is that the shots were blanks fired by the Guardia in order to scare him away but what is sure is that within a very short time a large number of back up Guardia arrived followed soon after by two military vehicles and at least six soldiers.

As soon as more information is available, we will update readers on the situation.