United Nationalities of Marbella Summit 2026

Every chair was full, the tables were busy, and after months of preparation, our United Nationalities of Marbella Summit brought everyone together at Hard Rock Hotel Marbella. #UNMS2026

The hotel team couldn’t have been more hospitable. Those with tables were delighted with the response and I loved seeing so many people making connections, asking questions and finding out what help is available.

My thanks to our lead partner, Línea Directa and to everyone who contributed their time, knowledge and enthusiasm.

Having Local Police, National Police, Guardia Civil, Bomberos and Protección Civil together was quite something, and who knew that the 112 emergency services handled so much? We learnt what each service does, how the systems work and perhaps most reassuringly, how friendly and approachable the people behind the uniforms are.

Thank you to all our speakers, including Miriam Pérez from the British Consulate and to Soroptimist for addressing gender violence. A special thank you to Georgina Shaw for her spontaneous translations throughout, helping everyone follow the conversations.

There is much more to share and I will write a fuller account once I’ve had time to process it all.

But today, I want to share Mario Bravo’s insightful approach to how best we should keep safe as foreigners living abroad; he brought it all down to a few basics:

1. Speak the language.
2. Keep fit, you might have to run.
3. Have a list of the medicines you need if you have to leave in an emergency.
4. Remember your spouse and pets. Don’t leave them behind!
5. Keep your car full of petrol.
6. And, failing all that, make sure you have good life insurance and a funeral plan.

I had to laugh.