British Mother Gives Birth in Darkness Outside Torremolinos Hotel During Blackout — Newborn Fights for Life
A British holidaymaker’s dream escape turned into a harrowing ordeal when she gave birth prematurely outside a hotel in Torremolinos during a town-wide blackout, leaving her newborn son battling for survival in intensive care.
The emergency unfolded at around 3 a.m. on Tuesday (April 29), at the four-star Puente Real Hotel, as a major power outage plunged the Costa del Sol resort town into darkness. The young mother, in her 30th week of pregnancy, went into sudden labour — 10 weeks early — while on holiday with her partner.
In a desperate rush for help, the couple made it to the hotel lobby, where night-shift receptionist Arturo became an unlikely hero.
With emergency services overwhelmed and struggling with communication due to the widespread blackout, Arturo called for an ambulance — but it was clear help wouldn’t arrive in time. The baby was already crowning, and there were no medical staff, no electricity, and no time to wait.
“I could see the baby’s head,” Arturo later told Spanish broadcaster SER Málaga, recounting the moment he was forced to deliver the child himself — in the hotel garden, under torchlight, and with no formal training.
Tragically, the newborn showed signs of asphyxia and turned purple. Arturo, guided by urgent instructions from paramedics on the phone, performed CPR on the lifeless infant until — miraculously — the baby began to cough.
Ambulance crews and police arrived minutes later, rushing the mother and her baby to Málaga’s Materno Infantil Hospital. The mother is now in stable condition, but her premature son remains in critical care, fighting for his life.
Emergency services confirmed the dramatic incident, saying:
“A British woman gave birth to a premature baby near the reception of the Puente Real hotel in the early hours of the morning during the blackout that affected much of the Spanish mainland. The hotel receptionist assisted the birth and performed CPR after the baby showed no signs of life.”
The couple had been enjoying a short break before their holiday turned into a life-or-death situation.
The blackout, which swept across much of the Costa del Sol, compounded an already dire scenario and delayed emergency response times.
Doctors now face an uphill battle to stabilise the infant, born more than two months early and in the most traumatic of circumstances.
Arturo, meanwhile, has been hailed a local hero — a man who remained calm in total chaos and, against all odds, helped bring new life into the world.