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

1. Before buying anything: assess your risk

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.
• Do you need a connection to an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC)? It is optional, but it defines whether you want a 24/7 response or just an alert to your phone.

2. Alarms: the heart of the system

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; connecting it to an Alarm Receiving Centre is optional, not a tie-in.

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, and you add professional monitoring only when you want it.

• 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. Cameras (CCTV): see and prove

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 Dahua and Hikvision, the two reference brands in professional video surveillance.

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. Access control and video door entry

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. The network: the foundation almost nobody looks at

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. By your type of property

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. Buy vs. install

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, with no subcontractors. 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. Common mistakes we see

• 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.