Hundreds of British tourists fled holiday villas and hotels on the Costa del Sol yesterday as fire raced through the outskirts of the picturesque Spanish hillside town of Mijas.

High winds in the middle of the night brought the flames to within metres of the walls of Mijas, which is home to thousands of retired Britons. About 300 people, including dozens of Britons, spent the night in a sports stadium in nearby Las Lagunas.

Holidaymakers had to find their way through smoke which reduced visibility to a few metres and brought traffic to a standstill on a coastal motorway. Ambulance crews helped a number of people who suffered asthma attacks. Anita Weston, a Briton, who woke to find the bedroom of her holiday flat filled with smoke and firemen beating on the door, said: "It was like Dunkirk. Cars, vans, buses, were turning up to rescue people."

Witnesses said at least one holiday home outside Mijas had been gutted, and fire had crept close to many other outlying villas.

Clare Lowery, from Whitehaven, Cumbria, said: "Suddenly the flames were lapping at the base of the balcony. We were terrified. We just grabbed the children, jumped in the hire car and drove down the hill. We don't know what happened to the villa."

Flames had surrounded Mijas and, by late afternoon, had spread down the hill towards the beach resort of Fuengirola and the holiday estates around Mijas golf course. Richard Atkins, a photographer who lives nearby, said: "The forest and scrubland around the town has been completely burned out."

Authorities said at least 200 hectares of pine and scrub had been burned to charcoal. Dozens of fire engines were called to the blaze along with four helicopters and four planes which doused the flames. By evening, the fire had been reduced to one of four fronts and some families were returning to their homes.

The flames came within 200 metres of the Puerta del Sol hotel outside Mijas where nearly 100 British tourists were staying. Marco Guerrero, the reception manager, said: "The smoke got really thick and the guests left gradually during the night as the flames got closer."