Politics
The Boar Wars
Spring has sprung early in the campo. There is almond blossom everywhere as Nature goes into seasonal overdrive, and my garden was looking particularly splendid, a minor miracle considering that I’m now in charge of it since my gardener, maintenance man and all around “fixer”, the multi-talented…
Hoffy New Year!
Baywatch star David "The Hoff" Hasselhoff was in Marbella over the Festive Season. The 66- year-old took time out and saw in the New Year with wife Haley at the Puente Romano Hotel, as well posting on Social Media and being snapped with Puente Romano PR and girl-about-town Kenza. "The Hoff" has a busy 2019 lined up, with a tour of Germany and Austria and a new album coming out. It's not known of…
Brexit Briefing for Marbella
With less than 100 days to go until the UK leaves the EU, the British Consulate in Andalucía is running a series of events for UK nationals on Living in Spain and Brexit. The events are being organised in conjunction with Brexpats and local town halls. British Consul Charmaine Arbouin and her team will update residents with the latest information on Brexit and what this means for UK nationals…
Dangerous Dining
Last month saw me in Gibraltar for a Fawlty Towers dining experience. No, that’s not me using the classic 70s British comedy series as a metaphor-that by the way, which contained one of my favourite characters of all time, ranking just below Uncle Monty, the Major – sample line “I must have liked her, Fawlty, because I took her to see India.” “India, Major”, “Yes! At the Oval!” The lunchtime…
Please, please stop the Muzak!
Let’s face it; Spain is a noisy country. I may live in serene solitude next to my lake, but once I clamber into my 4x4 (latest car karma update is that I now have a huge blue Landcruiser, purchased from a French friend and therefore christened Chabal after the famed and fearsome Neanderthal French rugby player) I am bombarded by noise. Not just the revving of engines, the honking of car horns,…
Charity calendar shines a light on abandonment
Marbella animal charity Triple A's 2019 calendar has set out to highlight the plight of abandoned animals Combining the talents of photographers Talia Giraudo (www.thoroughlygorgeous.com) and Kevin Horn (khphotography.com), as well as designer Carolina Cuesta (info@canprint.es) and printed by PRGrafis, this year's cover star is Maya, who was rescued, malnourished and abandoned, along with her…
Bob Dylan to play the Coast next summer!
Bod Dylan will play Fuengirola's Mare Nostrum venue on May 4. The concert is part of Dylan's Neverending Tour, which started in 1988 and has not stopped since. With nearly 100 performances per year, Dylan lives on and for the road, varying his performances according to his artistic interests. In the last quarter of a century, his influences have included Blues, Folk, Ballads, Swing, as well as…
Plastic cleanup a staggering success
The scale of the pollution problem facing the Coast was brought home last Saturday when a staggering 400 kgs of rubbish was collected in a single hour. The clean up was organised by environmental charity Plastic Free Seas Worldwide, which brought together 75 volunteers to clean up the beach in Fuengirola Plastic Free Seas Worldwide was created by Craig Webb to increase awareness about the amount…
Anti Bullfighting protest planned for January
The proposed plans by Marbella Town Hall to refurbish the town's derelict bullring, which also includes the provision for bullfighting, has met with public fury. As reported earlier this month Bullfights back in Marbella? , the €1million plan included replacing the barriers and floor of the bullring so that it could once again be used for bullfighting, which was banned three years ago under the…
Monday Motivation: Exercise. Punishment or Pleasure?
In her regular column, Ali Silver explains why we don't have to be slaves to the gym routine! I don’t know about you, but I have a history of finding something I enjoy and then totally overdoing it. Example: As a kid, I loved chicken satay. I ate it all the time. One day, I ate two portions (no that doesn’t seem too extreme, but the satay sauce was served in a bowl.) So I basically had a litre…
Funky Festivities
If you are only going to do one Christmas Market this festive season, make it the Fiesta LA CATARINA X CADI on Sunday December 16. The first part runs from 12:00 to 17:30 in the street outside La Catarina and features Craft Stalls, Gifts Accessories, Pastry , Craft Beer, Food and Drink Chestnuts, Glühwein and attractions for kids, as well as Christmas surprises. Triple A will also be there, and…
Keep the beach plastic free this Saturday
As a community lucky enough to live by the Mediterranean, each and every one of us has a responsibilty to look after our environment. Saturday December 15 sees the final Beach Clean Up of 2018, organised by Plastic Free Seas Worldwide Foundation, in collaboration with the Beach Department of the Fuengirola Town Hall and Specsavers Opticas Fuengirola. The company has committed to sponsoring the…
It’s Showtime!
Singer Alex Forriols, who rose to fame in the hit show La Voz in 2016, wowed the crowds at Posidonia Banus on Saturday at the launch of the Posidonia Palace Show. His singing talent, stage presence and showmanship impressed, with numbers as diverse as Bohemian Rapsody, Roxanne and Gangnam Style. Alex performed with four professional dancers from Madrid and aerial performer Yana from…
Comedy Tonight! – Laughter at the Lounge
Top flight comedy will be coming to La Sala tonight with Laughter at the Lounge It's the latest event from Bill Edwards, who noticed a gap in the market and started Costa Comedy Clubs in 2015. Since then Bill has flown top British stand up comedians over to Spain to perform at venues all along the coast, as La Sala Puerto Banus and the Sunborn Yacht in Gibraltar as well as many others local…
Bullfights back in Marbella?
In a move that will anger animal rights campaigners, bullfighting looks set to return to the Plaza de Toros in Marbella. Marbella Town Hall has announced that it will allocate just over one million euros for the refurbishment of the bullring, with the aim of "making it safe, practicable and operational for its intended use", according to the tender document. Companies that want to attend to carry…
British Ambassador’s Open Letter on Brexit
An open letter from HMA Simon Manley to British nationals living in Spain I wanted to update you on the recent developments on our exit from the EU. As many of you are no doubt aware, on Sunday 25th November, there was a special European Council on Brexit. EU leaders agreed the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration on the future relationship between the UK and EU. Citizens’ rights is a…
Monday Motivation – Ditch Dieting for Good!
In the first in a regular series of columns, Ali Silver examines our complex relationship with food. Do you need to change your body? Or do you need to change your relationship with your body and with food? If you are a woman, and it is also becoming more common in men these days, then it is more than likely you have been on a diet of sorts. Formerly they were sold to you, in the form of Atkins,…
For Sale: One Careful Owner!
As regular readers of this blog will know, there has been a marked increase of shootings, stabbing and general "settling of scores" between drug gangs on the Costa del Sol this year. The latest happened last month with the killing of a 58-year-old French national, with a history of drugs and arms convictions, as he got out of his car in the garage of his luxury villa and was mown down with an…
Marbella lights up tonight for Christmas!
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... Marbella gets into the Festive spirit tonight with the official turning on of the Christmas lights. As well as the lighting up ceremony, there are also parades, musical numbers, concerts and children's entertaiment planned for tonight. Marbella and San Pedro - the later with its giant Christmas Bauble that in bears an uncanny resemblence to the Death…
Top Dog! Freya to the rescue!
It was a case of canine cavalry to the rescue in Marbella last night. A canine unit of the Protection Civil joined National Police in the search for an 80-year-old man who went missing in Las Chapas yesterday lunchtime The man was found around 11.30pm by Freya, one of the canine unit's dogs. He had suffered a fall just 500 metres from his home and was unable to move. Paramedics were able to…
Music legends rock at Kempinski Art Series 2018
Musical legends and artists Brian Travers from UB40 and John Illsley from Dire Straits flew in last Thursday to unveil a new art exhibition at the Kempinski Hotel Bahía. Officially opened by Mayor of Estepona José María García Urbano, (pictured with Brian, John and Kempinski Executive Assistant Manager Julia Castillo) this was the last event of the hotel’s Art Series 2018. Over 100…