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Eugenio Cabezas
Caleta de Vélez
Monday, 5 May 2025, 15:43
The residents of the Baviera golf course in Caleta de Vélez on the eastern Costa del Sol are asking for safety nets to be installed as they claim they "collect 30 golf balls a week" from their terraces and balconies. Managers of the golf club say they have planted trees and are offering to co-finance the installation of the nets to protect homes and gardens.
"It's a nightmare, we are afraid to go out on the terrace, the balconies or the swimming pool, we don't know when we might get hit by a ball," said local resident Rafael Ramos. "Since we moved in just a year ago, we have been picking up an average of 20 to 30 balls a week on the terraces and balconies, and they have caused significant damage to plant pots and windows," he said.
The situation has been going on for a couple of years now, when a new residential area was built, just 10 metres from the golf course, in an area where more than two thousand residents already live. The most affected areas are Baviera Hills, Green 9 and Colinas de Baviera, which are the closest to the starting holes on the golf course
The properties have been built progressively and around most of the perimeter there are safety nets. However, the last three developments are still awaiting the installation of the safety devices. "They have planted trees and the golf course managers are telling us that we should pay half the cost, which could be 10,000 or 20,000 euros to be divided among the residents," Ramos expalined. He has also criticised the town hall and said councillors have "completely washed their hands of the matter, because they tell us that it is a matter between private individuals".
He went on to say, "But they collect the IBI tax and issued the building permits and when we have a serious problem, of safety, with residents who have already submitted reports of breakages of up to 10,000 euros, they ignore it."
Ramos does recognise that the "golf course is taking care of all the repairs of the damage, with its insurance, but what we want is to have peace of mind, to be able to go out to our outdoor areas and not fear for our lives".
He said that on one occasion one of the golf balls hit a bricklayer who was working on one of the terraces, fortunately without causing serious injury. "They are prioritising money to the detriment of our health and safety, psychologically this is affecting us all a lot," Ramos claimed.
"I have spent a thousand euros on putting up some awnings that protect us a little more, but it is not the definitive solution either, and the trees are still very small and it will be many years before they grow to create a real screen," said the local resident. As for the balls that they collect from their terraces and balconies, "sometimes we return them to the club and sometimes we keep them, until they fix the damage," he admitted.
Ramos went on to say, "We don't understand why nets were put up in some areas and not in others, they sell you the house as being next to a golf course, but we never imagined that we would have this daily danger and this great insecurity, because we are barely ten metres from the course, when the regulations say that there should be 70."
Sources at the golf course have explained to SUR that "from the first instance we have been quickly attending to any damage that may occur". The sources went on to say, "We understand that there is a problem and that it has to be solved, we are working on it, but this takes some permits and procedures and we cannot go any faster."
The club also said that it is also up to the local residents to agree between themselves what course of action needs to be taken. "There are some who do not want the nets, who prefer the trees or even nothing at all because they take away the view’" the company said. However, Baviera Golf sources have not clarified whether it is true that they have been offered to co-finance the cost of the nets. "These are private conversations," they replied when asked. "It is a matter between private individuals, we do not want to go to war with the locals, we are with them, we have a cordial and trusting relationship," the club added.
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