Road disruption near Torrenueva as refrigerated lorry wedges beneath underpass

Motorists travelling along the coast road around the Torrenueva, La Cala de Mijas area are annoyingly having to go back on themselves as a refrigerated commercial van has become firmly wedged beneath a low-clearance underpass near Torrenueva directly alongside the busy A-7.

A bridge too low

The accident occurred around 2pm on Thursday, July 23 in the underpass opposite the roundabout connecting the Torrenueva supermarket, Avenida de Jerez, and Calle Carabellas. In an attempt to navigate the tunnel, the vehicle struck the entrance height bar causing it to come away from the wall crashing to the floor leaving scatter debris across the road. The van’s roof jammed directly into the concrete above.

Emergency responders and local police quickly taped off the area to assess the bridge for structural safety. With the route closed, all affected traffic heading towards Marbella are being forced to execute U-turns and head back towards the already extremely busy La Cala de Mijas.

Heavy congestion as summer holiday and feria traffic peaks

The timing created a bottleneck as the roads are already under strain with the peak holiday and visitors coming to the area ahead of attending the local feria celebrations.

The persistent hazard of low-clearance bridge strikes

The incident has occurred just a few weeks after just up the road in Calahonda a lorry caused traffic chaos when it got caught on overhead electric cables.

Bridge collisions involving delivery vehicles are a common recurring issue often causing gridlock and costly repairs. Despite physical gauge bars and height limit signs, drivers frequently misjudge their vehicle’s dimensions or miss early warning signals altogether. Many incidents stem from drivers using standard mobile navigation tools rather than specialized commercial GPS systems that route around low structures. A single stuck vehicle can paralyze local traffic for hours, requiring emergency structural inspections before the road can safely reopen.