What actually goes wrong
After years of managing properties in Cómpeta, Sayalonga, Nerja, Canillas de Albaida, Torrox and the wider Axarquía, I have seen most of what can happen to an unattended property in this region.
The most common call-outs we deal with:
- No power when guests arrive at a self check-in rental
- No water in the house, or a leaking pipe discovered via camera or neighbour
- Lost keys or a broken lock — more common than you would expect, especially with holiday rental turnover
- No internet when guests arrive expecting a working connection
- Air conditioning not working in the middle of summer
- Pool problems — green water, pump failures, chemical imbalance
- Storm damage — broken gates, fencing, shutters, sun shades, roof tiles
- Broken appliances in a rental — washing machine, dishwasher, boiler, shower
- Guest cannot find the property — not as rare as it sounds with rural Axarquía addresses
- Damage left by departing guests, found by the cleaning team the morning before new arrivals
Some of these are inconvenient. Some are urgent. A few – a burst pipe in an empty property, storm damage to an unsecured building, a guest locked out of a villa in 35-degree heat – need someone there the same day.
What to do before something goes wrong
The best time to sort this out is before you need it. A few things that take less than an hour to arrange and save significant stress later.
Know where your water stopcock is. If a pipe leaks, the first question anyone will ask you is how to turn the water off at the mains. If you do not know the answer, neither will whoever you call for help. Find it on your next visit and photograph it.
Have a spare key with someone local. Not posted to a friend who might visit, not in a lockbox whose code you have forgotten. A physical key with a person based here who can be at your property the same day. This is what our keyholding service exists for.
Save your insurance emergency number on your phone. Not in a folder in Spain. On your phone, in your contacts, now. Most Spanish home insurance policies include a 24-hour emergency line. Most owners have never used it and do not know the number.
Photograph your boiler, fuse box, and pool pump. When something goes wrong with any of these, the person helping you remotely will ask for a photo. Having them already taken and saved means the diagnosis starts immediately rather than waiting for you to find them.
Arrange your pool contractor before summer. Pool problems do not wait for a convenient moment. If your property is a holiday rental, a green pool the morning of a new arrival is a booking-threatening emergency. Having a contractor already on call removes that risk.
Do a pre-season check. Before your rental season starts or before you fly out for your own holiday, have someone go through the property. Air conditioning working, appliances tested, hot water running, shutters opening, pool clean and balanced. An hour of checking costs far less than an emergency call-out because something failed on arrival day.
What happens when you call us
If it is an emergency, the process is straightforward.
You contact us with the address, access details, and what you know about the problem. We give you a rough price as close to accurate as we can manage before we go out. We send someone as soon as we have a person available, which on most days means the same day – asap.
We assess the problem on arrival, fix what we can on the spot, and call in a specialist contractor if the job requires specific expertise – an electrician, a plumber, a glazier. We handle the coordination so you do not have to manage a Spanish-speaking tradesperson from another country by phone.
For non-emergency maintenance, we arrange a visit, provide a written quote, and carry out the work once you have agreed to it.
We can also help with insurance documentation. If there has been storm damage, a break-in, a flood, or any incident you need to claim for, we go out, photograph everything, record what we find, and send you the documentation you need for your insurer.
Some real situations
These are all real. Details changed to protect the owners.
Cómpeta, owners in Holland. Self check-in holiday villa. Guests arrived to find no power, no water, no internet. We were called, identified an electrical fault, fixed it on site. Guests were settled in before dark.
Sayalonga, owners in the UK. Self check-in rental villa. Guest broke a key in the front door lock and could not get in. We came out, opened the door, replaced the lock the same day. Guest got inside, owner did not lose the booking.
Canillas de Albaida, owners in Ireland. Family holiday villa, no rental guests – the owners spotted water on their security camera. We picked up the spare key, found a kitchen leak, fixed it before any serious damage spread.
Torrox, owners in Holland. A neighbour called the owners after a storm to say there was damage at the property. We went out, found broken gates, damaged fencing and torn sun shades. Everything was repaired before the owners flew out for their holiday.
Nerja, owners in the UK. Self check-in rental villa. Cleaning team found significant damage left by departing guests. We removed broken furniture, installed replacements, repainted damaged walls and repaired interior details. The villa was ready for the next booking.
Every one of these situations resolved without the owners needing to get on a plane. That is the point.
What we cover and how it works
The service covers the same geographic area as our keyholding service: Cómpeta, Nerja, Frigiliana, Torrox, Sayalonga, Canillas de Albaida and the surrounding Axarquía villages and coastal towns.
We work in English and Spanish – useful when dealing with local contractors, suppliers, town halls, or guests who only speak one or the other. We also speak Lithuanian.
Pricing depends on the job:
- Monthly maintenance – a fixed monthly fee covering agreed regular visits, plus any extras billed separately
- Emergency call-outs – priced per job, quoted (roughly) before we go out
- Hourly rate – used for smaller or undefined jobs where an hourly arrangement makes more sense
If you have a holiday rental, this service and our rental management service work well together. Most of the emergency situations above involved rental properties with guests in, or arriving imminently. Having the same team handle both the guest side and the property side removes the coordination problem entirely.
Who this is for
This service is for anyone who owns a property in the Axarquía or eastern Costa del Sol and needs a reliable handyman or maintenance team to handle repairs.
That includes owners based abroad who cannot be here when something goes wrong. It also includes people who live locally but simply do not want to deal with it themselves — finding a plumber, chasing a contractor, managing a job from start to finish. We do that for you too.
Whether you visit twice a year, rent your property out to guests all summer, or live down the road and have better things to do with your Saturday than track down an electrician, the same principle applies. Things will need attention. Some of those things will need attention urgently. Having a number to call – one that gets answered, by someone who speaks English, who can be at your property the same day – is not a luxury. It is basic ownership infrastructure.
If you do not have that in place yet, now is a good time to sort it out. Not when the camera footage shows water on your kitchen floor.
FAQ – Frequently asked questions
Do I need to be in Spain to authorise repairs?
No. We quote you by phone or WhatsApp before going out. If you agree to the price, we proceed. Everything is handled remotely. You do not need to be here for routine or emergency work.
What counts as a property emergency?
Anything that needs attention the same day to prevent further damage or to keep a guest comfortable. A broken lock, no power, a leaking pipe, storm damage to an unsecured gate, a pool that needs emergency cleaning before arrivals. If it cannot wait until next week, it is an emergency.
Can you help if I do not have Spanish home insurance?
Yes. Insurance documentation is only one part of what we do. We carry out the work regardless of whether an insurance claim is involved. If you do not have Spanish home insurance, that is a separate conversation worth having with a local insurer before something goes wrong.
How do I get a spare key to you?
The simplest way is to leave one with us on your next visit. If you are not planning to visit soon, a key can be sent to our post box and we will confirm receipt. For rental properties, we recommend this is sorted before your first guest arrives, not after.
What if the job is too big to fix the same day?
We assess on arrival and tell you immediately if the work requires more time, specialist contractors, or materials that need ordering. We give you a clear picture of what is involved, a revised timeline, and handle the coordination from there. You will not be left managing a Spanish-speaking contractor from abroad.
Do you only cover the Axarquía?
Our coverage area follows the same boundaries as our keyholding service: Cómpeta, Nerja, Frigiliana, Torrox, Sayalonga, Canillas de Albaida, Canillas de Aceituno and the surrounding Axarquía villages and coastal towns east of Málaga. If you are unsure whether your property falls within our area, send me a message and I will confirm.
What size jobs do you take on?
All of them. A 30-minute repair, a broken ceiling light, a bulb that needs changing – we will come out for that. At the other end, we handle medium and large renovation work too, from kitchen and bathroom updates to more substantial structural projects. There is no job too small to bother us with, and no job too large to discuss.
Find out more about our property maintenance and emergency call-out service in the Axarquía, or send me a message directly on WhatsApp.
WhatsApp: +34 711 032 640
