Nicole King – The price of progress

When I lived in Madrid I was fully aware of what was going on in Spain. 

I knew the name of the President, the leaders of the different political parties as well as their comings and goings.  Their demeanours and misdemeanours were common conversation with colleagues and friends as they were always plastered over the newspapers and on Spanish television and very much a part of day to day life.

Since moving down to Marbella full-time it’s a very different story.  Now, like many of the foreigners that live in coastal areas, I spend most of my time with the international community which is dominated primordially by networking not policies nor politics.    This is fine by me as like many of you, I have little to no interest as to who is running the city or how they do it, I just love living here and it doesn’t seem to matter: Marbella is always great as it is.

Our Town Hall however has been working on many ambitious projects over the past years to bring Marbella further to the forefront of the tourism industry as a five-star destination, constantly making changes and improvements.  The efforts have obviously paid off as our city has been chosen as the Best European Destination for 2024 by over a million voters from 172 countries.

There is however a bittersweet taste to success.  We have all wanted Marbella to become an all year-round tourist destination so that business can boom, but did we want all the people that come with it and the increase in the cost of renting and buying due to the high demand?

There are many other subtle changes too. For example, have you noticed how few “chiringuitos” we have left?   Originally these shack style restaurants were on the beach and quite inaccessible but the extension of the promenade over the years, now reaching from Los Monteros through to San Pedro de Alcantara, has turned them into frontline opportunities.  Since the addition of the new bridge built at the end of last year over the river Guadaiza the pace on the promenade has really picked up, becoming a littoral highway for many who embrace this alternative route to get around.

The increase just from last year of the amount of promenade traffic is staggering with people who walk, jog, run, cycle and scoot up and down from dawn to dusk, many with dogs.  One would never know we’re in the off season with the amount of circulation.

This amount of movement on the promenade has worked out well for the original owners who have been able to get good money when selling on their businesses but now we have restaurants on the beach, changing not just the traditional atmosphere of the typical chiringuito but also the “typical” price.