or Indian Summer to us
Beautiful weather down here at the moment - in fact summer never really ended, but just got a bit cooler at night. The picture above is from the top balcony aiming due south and shows the Moroccan Rif Mountains with the valley in the centre of the shot being where Al Hoceima is (I think).
We have had many visitors (correction, Danish neighbours have had many viistors who have dropped in to see us) throughout October with a constant procession of friends and family. This week there is nice couple who are spending a couple of weeks touring the area and putting the electrical system to rights down there (no such thing as a free smorgasbord?).
The house below just reflects the whole area really, as the tourist season has dragged on as much as has the summer. There are something like 40 cruise liners coming through Malaga this month and the village is full of skeins of tourists and their guides from as early as 9 am.
The hotels are full, transport system is struggling and Malaga is a nightmare. While all this is going on, the mayor et al are off in London promoting the Costa del Sol as a tourist destination for Brits. Maybe considering upgrading the infrastructure to accommodate them would be a better idea before trying to drag more people in.
Some friends went on a "trial cruise" around the western med a couple of weeks ago (trial as they have booked a 3 week world cruise after Christmas). If the tourists we see here off the cruise liners are anything to go by, they are welcome. They did actually say that in the period before they took ill (!) it was a bit iffy, with their quoute "John and Gill would hate this" confirming everything we suspected. I guess the cruising business is moving down-market with the rest of the tourist industry. (Not being too sniffy, but about 10 years ago, the western med cruise was one a former a gardener and 12 of his family went on, with him telling me "with the free food and booze, it was as cheap as being at home ").
Yesterday was pretty windy and somehow a fire started up near the Venta los Condes (the knocking shop) at 4am (accredited to "sparks from a transformer" by some locals"). Anyway, the winds were running at about 40kph and gusting at 80, so it spread like, well like wildfire.
All the usual suspects - road closed, lots of police and fire engines plus half a dozen helicopters and spotter planes and nearly a hundred firefighters. "Luckily" the wind was predominantly from the north so the fire was blow towards the coast rather than the forest and even more luck they managed to get it under just before dusk when the planes have to stop flying. Of course, our new may - an aparatchik parachuted in by the PP hierarchy in Malaga and put in place by an insurrection among the current councillors - was in eveidence and they even managed to evacuate people to safety on the other side of the village - or Mijas golf, whichever version you choose to believe. I will get the whole nine yards from Juan from the Niño later in the week as his house is with 100m of the aforesaid venta - eith that or from the gardener to the house below who lives in that area. More to come...
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