Complete security guide for home and business on the Costa del Sol

1. What is my property’s risk? Assess it before buying anything

Four things set the risk: how long the property sits empty, whether you want to deter or to identify, where the weak points are and whether an alert to your phone is enough for you. According to the Ministry of the Interior’s crime statistics (Balance de Criminalidad, January to December 2025, as reported by Málaga Actualidad and Andalucía Información), 2,408 burglaries with forced entry into homes were reported in Málaga province in 2025, down from 3,163 in 2024: 23.9% fewer. Across Spain they fell from 81,094 to 74,353 (−8.3%). These are reported crimes, not every crime that happened, and 2,408 a year is still more than six homes a day in the province.

Answer this and you will already know 80% of what you need:

• How long does the property sit empty? A second home empty in winter prioritises early detection and alerts to your phone. A main residence prioritises deterrence and cameras at the access points.
• What do you want, to deter or to identify? Deter = a visible alarm plus siren. Identify = well-placed cameras at the access points. You almost always need to combine the two.
• What are the weak points? Front door, garage door, ground-floor windows, back yards, accessible terraces.
• Is an alert to your phone enough for you? Having an operator receive the alert and call the police is a regulated service that only a registered private security company provides; we do not provide or resell it. What we install alerts your phone and whoever you add.

2. Which alarm should I install on the Costa del Sol, and is there a monthly fee?

An Ajax alarm with no monthly fee: you buy the equipment once, it is yours and it alerts your phone, with mobile data backup if the internet or the power is cut. The UNE-EN 50131-1 standard sorts intruder alarms into four grades: grade 2 is the one intended for homes and small shops. The kits we install, such as the Ajax grade 2 professional alarm kit with HDR camera, are grade 2.

The alarm is the first line. The big debate in Spain is monthly fee, yes or no. Companies like Verisure or Securitas run on a compulsory monthly fee for years. The alternative we install, Ajax, has no compulsory monthly fees: you buy the equipment once and it is yours, and the alerts go to your phone. Connection to an Alarm Receiving Centre is a regulated service that only a registered private security company provides: we do not provide or resell it.

For a property on the Costa del Sol this matters especially: many second homes do not justify paying a fee all 12 months of the year. With Ajax you always get alerts to your phone, with no fee.

• In-depth guide: The Ajax alarm with no monthly fees: full guide.
• If you already have cameras of another brand: Ajax with other brands' cameras: scenarios.

You can see the equipment in the Ajax alarms category in our shop.

3. Which security cameras should I install, and where?

Few and well placed, at the access points first, with the recording on a protected recorder inside your property. Ajax is our speciality, with the alarm and the cameras in one app: the one we install most in homes is the Turret IP Camera 8 MP Indoor/Outdoor Dual Light White - Ajax. A BitSight report from June 2025, covered by 404 Media, counted more than 40,000 cameras reachable from the internet with no protection: nobody had hacked them, they were simply open because of factory passwords, ports opened on the router and firmware never updated. That is why the installation includes your own password, updated firmware and no port opened on the router.

Cameras do two jobs: deter and, if something happens, provide evidence. What makes the difference is not the number of megapixels, it is where they are placed and that the recording is well protected. We work mainly with Ajax, which keeps the alarm and the cameras in a single app; on camera projects that call for it we also install Hikvision.

The three key decisions:

• How many cameras: fewer than you think if they are well placed (access points first).
• Which brand or range: based on budget, light conditions and whether you need analytics.
• Where to record: a local recorder (NVR) versus the cloud, and how to stop it being taken away along with everything else.

• How to choose a security camera 2026
• How many cameras do I need at home?
• Dahua vs Hikvision: which to choose

4. Do I need a video intercom or access control?

If you receive people when you are away (cleaners, technicians, tenants) or if several people with keys pass through your property, yes. The IP video intercom lets you see and open from your phone, and access control gives each person their own code or fob, which is cancelled without changing the lock.

Knowing who comes in is as important as detecting who should not. A modern video door entry unit lets you see and open from your phone wherever you are —very handy to let in a technician or the cleaner when you are not at the property—. In communities and businesses, access control (codes, cards, number plate) cuts incidents without putting anyone on the door. You can see the models in the video door entry category.

5. Why does the network decide whether the cameras work?

Because an IP camera on WiFi that does not reach drops out exactly when it is needed. Before installing cameras it pays to have a stable network: Cat6 cable where possible and WiFi 6 Mesh where not. It is the first thing we measure on any visit.

A modern security system is, at heart, a network. If the WiFi does not reach the garage or garden camera properly, that camera fails just when you need it. Before filling the house with cameras it is worth having a stable network: cable where you can, good WiFi where you cannot.

• Cat6 wiring at home
• WiFi with no dead zones: repeater, mesh or Cat6

The equipment is in the networks and WiFi category.

6. What does a villa, a flat or a community need?

A villa is protected from the perimeter inwards (outdoor detection, cameras at the access points and an alarm by zones); a flat, with a wireless alarm and no building work, a video intercom and three or four well-chosen points; a community, with signposted CCTV in shared areas, access control and a communal video intercom, presented to the owners’ meeting with a plan.

Protecting a detached villa is not the same as a flat in a block or a whole community:

• Villa (plot, garden, several access points): perimeter + outdoor cameras + alarm by zones. → Security for your villa in Marbella.
• Apartment or flat (no works, community building, seafront): a 100% wireless alarm, video door entry, gear that stands up to the sea salt. → Apartment security in Fuengirola.
• Community or development (communal areas, access points, GDPR): CCTV in communal areas, access control, community video door entry. → Security for communities and developments in Mijas.

7. Should I buy the equipment myself or have a professional install it?

You can buy the equipment in our shop and fit it yourself, or buy it and have us install it in Málaga and on the Costa del Sol; in that case the installation quote carries a 10% discount. The difference a proper installation makes is not cosmetic: it is that the cameras really cover the weak points, the alarm does not false-trigger and the recording is safe.

You can buy the equipment yourself online and fit it, or have someone local install it. Our model is we sell and install: you buy the equipment in the shop and we fit and set it up on the Costa del Sol. The advantage of installing well is not "that it looks tidy": it is that the cameras genuinely cover the weak points, the alarm does not give false triggers and the recording is safe. And how much does it cost in numbers? We look at it in the price guide for an alarm in Málaga.

8. What are the most common mistakes when installing security?

Many badly aimed cameras instead of a few well-placed ones, the recorder in plain sight, an alarm with no maintenance, choosing by the price on the sign and ending up tied to a fee, and fitting IP cameras on WiFi that does not reach.

• Fitting lots of poorly aimed cameras instead of a few well-placed ones.
• Leaving the recorder in plain sight (it gets taken away with the evidence inside).
• An alarm with no maintenance: batteries and sensors age too.
• Choosing by the advertised price and ending up tied to an expensive monthly fee.
• Fitting IP cameras over a WiFi that does not reach.

In the shop: Safire cameras · Ajax alarm hubs