A New Adventure in France

After our off-roading adventure we headed back to the coast for a more relaxing week. We spent an enjoyable two nights under the radar parked in the marina at Benelmadena, a coastal resort very popular with Brits and adjacent to Torrelmolinos. It’s the first time we’ve seen evidence of restaurants and bars with obvious tourist menus with each restaurant vying for custom with offers of cheap beer at under 3€ a pint and tapas dishes for 1€.

We definitely had stereotypical images of resorts like Torremolinos in mind before we arrived but, out of season and in the sunshine with fewer people, the long seafront promenade walks and beach restaurants are very attractive. The Carihuela district of Torremolinos places more focus on its fishing heritage with monuments to those lost at sea in past years.

At the other extreme perhaps is the area around Marbella, with luxurious houses nestled in the hillside and plenty of luxury cars in evidence. The beach area near Marbella town was, to us at least, less attractive and less impressive than others we have seen, but the old town of Marbella was charming, in particular the Plaza de las Naranjas, lined with the orange trees it is named after and bustling with cafés.

In between the old town and the beach is a wide esplanade, Avenida del Mar, with a display of 10 bronze sculptures by Salvador Dali acquired by the Marbella Town Hall, on a par with any museum collection, yet displayed in the street for free. 

Our next base for a week was a campsite at Manilva to the west of Estepona, a site popular again with overwintering expats (Dutch, German and British). The long stayers set up their pitches with windbreak fences, astroturf carpets and pot plants to claim their territory. It was certainly a lovely site with excellent facilities, good location and direct access to a very nice beach and seafront promenades in both directions. To the west we walked past El Castillo to the small port of Puerta de la Duquesa, lined with bars and restaurants. To the east, the beach dunes are in a conservation area with a more rugged feel and casual beach bars. 

The scooter came in useful again for trips out with a day trip to Estepona, a town 30 minutes west which we really liked the feel of. The old town was not dissimilar to Marbella old town and the more modern shopping area was nicely laid out in wider back streets. The long sandy beach area and promenade was more attractive and relaxed than Marbella we felt and you can see why it’s popular with holidaymakers. 

To the east we were only 40 minutes from Gibraltar so we decided on a quick visit there. As we left the main road heading towards the huge rock that looms ahead of you, the signage to get into Gibraltar became more and more discreet – it felt like the Spanish don’t want you to find your way there! We went through border control next to the airport and immediately noticed that the state of the road surfaces worsened. It’s strange to see all the signs in English but you’re still driving on the wrong side of the road. We made our way first to the southernmost point of the Rock – Europa Point- where you can see North Africa across the Straits of Gibraltar. A mixture of sights greets you at EuropaPoint including a lighthouse, the restored artillery battery ‘Hardings Battery., an Islamic mosque and a sports centre. There is a constant toing and froing of minibuses transporting tourists around the island and stopping off at Europa Point.

We continued our circumnavigation of the Rock, via busy built-up roads and lots of noisy construction, back towards town to park at the cable car station – only to discover that the cable car was closed for maintenance. Ah well, never mind. We walked instead into town and immediately found a different atmosphere as you entered the narrow stone streets of the historic centre. With familiar British shop names and brands and British voices and traditional pubs, it immediately felt like a British naval market town, somewhere like Dartmouth. We didn’t see much evidence of cheap tax free prices, certainly not for food and drink at least, but you probably need to plan ahead and know what you’re buying. So it was an interesting day – we were pleased we went there but don’t feel any need to go back. 

We have made use of Spanish buses a couple of times, a useful and cheap way to get around. Timetables are easily available but you need to ensure you are ready and waiting at the stop well ahead of time. The departure time from the originating terminus is adhered to but, if traffic conditions are good, the bus presses on with no regard for the timetable at intermediate stops and you can easily be left watching it pass you by at speed, well ahead of schedule, as you make your way to your stop!