Almuñécar secondhand/craft market

Musicians and a Seat 500 at Almuñécar market

There used to be an excellent secondhand/craft market held one day a month at Almuñécar, on the Costa Tropical. Traders, musicians, performers and some great crafts people would travel from as far as France and Portugal to do business. There were some wonderful antiques and interesting surprises to be had from all over Europe. People literally came down from the mountains to sell their wares, including home made food, furniture, clothes, music, plants and jewellery.

Almuñécar was ideally situated for a market because it was on the main coast road. If you wanted to travel east or west along the Mediterranean coast of Spain, you had to pass through Almuñécar.

A good proportion of the money raised from renting pitches went to various charities, plus there were several stalls run by charities. A friend of mine used to sell books on behalf of a hospice, and would raise over 1000 euros a year.

The market was also a social occasion where you'd meet friends, have lunch and do some grocery shopping. I think it's fair to say that Almuñécar came alive on market day, the market brought in several thousand people with money to spend.

Sadly, the local council of Almuñécar closed the market about 18 months ago. I never read an official explanation for the closure, but the decision was short sighted and stupid. The local mayor decided it was for the good of the town and that was that.

Shortly after the secondhand market was closed the recession (or crisis as it is called here) hit Spain, and we all know about that. It hit the property market and building industry in Almuñécar particularly hard, there are now a lot of jobless people in the town. And when you thought that things can't get any worse, they just did.

Earlier this year the new A7 coast road (which will eventually connect the entire coast of Spain), opened a new section that totally by-passes Almuñécar. Today when I passed through even the gas station was quiet. What was a busy, vibrant area on the outskirts of this popular resort now looks half abandoned. And the one day a month, when the same area used to come alive with visitors, and everyone benefited - shop keepers, stall holders, bar owners, restaurant owners, tourists, ex-pats, charities, stray dogs (thanks to hard working volunteers) local shoppers etc etc........is just a distant memory, and an example of perhaps the most ill advised local decision making I have ever experienced!

Back to the seaside

After my mountaineering exploits yesterday, I'll try and steer the blog back on course today with a visit to the seaside.

Actually it was yesterday that I dragged my aching body down to the beach for a spot of photography. I have an image in my head, of a day I spent by the seaside in England when I was about 9 or 10. For the past 2 weeks I've made several visits to the coast to try and make my mental image a physical one.

Yesterday I was strolling and looking for the shapes of the image when I noticed a national trait on the beach. You should never generalise, but what I noticed and captured was something that most Spaniards would agree with, ie; they are very sociable.

In fact sociable is an understatement. People of Mediterranean countries love to be close to others, they love to talk, touch, share and generally be friendly with people around them.

Yesterday in southern Spain as people arrived at the beach, almost everyone sat close to someone else, and the closer the better. I didn't see anyone stray to a part of the beach that was empty. This is in total contrast to northern Europe and the US where most of us find it uncomfortable to share our "personal space" with others.

Surprisingly, the sea was rather empty - although to me, it looked to be the most tempting option!

Good news about photo

I always get a buzz when one of my photographs is published, so I was thrilled to see my photograph of the family jumping in the sea in the Times travel section today. That's the London Times, not New York.

Dinner on the beach - Costa Tropical

It's incredibly hot here at the moment, many people feel it's unseasonably hot. After about 10am it's difficult to do too much physical work. A good escape is to do the 30 minute drive to the beach. But - the coast roads are busy at weekends during the summer. I tend to visit the beach during the week, or if I go at weekends, then late evenings are best to avoid the cars.

Last night at about 8pm, four of us drove down to the coast for dinner in a beach restaurant at Salobrena on the Costa Tropical.

The sardines were exceptional and the salad looked too good to eat. The air was warm with a light breeze. We ate to the sound of the waves, beach tennis and muffled conversation.

After a lovely evening cooling down, we drove home and I was happily asleep in my bed by midnight!