A Swiss couple in their thirties who grew marijuana plants near Alhaurín el Grande were cleared of a drugs related offence by a Malaga court last week.

In a statement, the judge said that there was “more than reasonable doubt” over what would have happened to the marijuana once it had been grown. The couple had always insisted that the plants were only being grown for personal use, which is legal.

Guardia Civil officers arrested the pair in August 2015 after discovering the plantation on the plot of land they were living on in their mobile home, and reduced the couple to tears when they chopped the plants down.

The man and woman, who wished to remain anonymous, used to spend the summer months travelling through Spain and Morocco in their motor home. However, after falling in love with the landscape in the Barranco Blanco area outside Coín, they parked up the van and began a new life there.

The couple make leather goods and would often go to street markets to sell their products.

With the ideal weather conditions in the area, the pair, who have been taking marijuana “for half their lives”, decided to plant some seeds of the drug and wait for it grow. They told investigators that the marijuana was only planted for personal consumption and because watching it grow “is very beautiful”.

The officers, who were passing by the land, intervened when they spotted the plantation by chance, but their actions caused the couple “a lot of pain”, particularly given the “hard work” that was involved in looking after the plants.

Although they explained to the Guardia Civil that they “never hid the plants”, the couple were nevertheless arrested, with officers finding 1.8 kilos of the substance. Prosecutors had been asking for three years in prison and a 3,880-euro fine before they were acquitted.

“We were very worried, but always calm because it was clear that the marijuana plants were for personal use only. They were only for us. Now it is time to celebrate our acquittal,” the couple stated.