As can be seen from this aerial photograph of the section of the A-7 affected by the landslide, there are large fissures that have openen up on top the hillside.

The Ministry of Transport has begun work to remove the debris but owing to the instability of the hillside, it must be done from above, working down, rather than scooping up the rocks and earth off the road surface.

The Mayor of Gualchos-Castell de Ferro, Antonia Antequera, explained that there is no set  date after which the A-7 can be opened up to normal traffic. in the meantime, all the traffic will have to pass along the N-340.

The first step will be to reopen the westbound lanes (the debris is on the eastbound lanes) and that way change the double lanes system into a two-way single-lane, temporary arrangement to relieve pressure on the N-340 and keep the traffic to the A-7.

Whilst this is going on, surveyors will be investigating the cause of the landslides, as this has not been the first there.

Interestingly, prior to the landslip, a geological research group from the universities of Granada and Jaén on a routine field trip had been to the area the day before the landslide and noted that the hillside was in imminent danger of coming down, so they communicated this find to the construction company in charge of the maintenance of the Granada section of the A-7.

The university field trip had actually been inspecting the hillside on the other side of the autovia with a drone and had spotted the cracks opening up on the crown of the hill in front.

(News: Castell de Ferro, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)