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Costa del Sol
(14 Nov - 12 Dec 2024)

In Nov 2024, we kickstarted our slow travel journey in Spain’s Costa del Sol region using Torremolinos as our base.

Initially, we had thought of using the French Riviera as the launchpad for our slow travel (and did tons of research!). However, just prior to finalising our booking arrangements, news broke of a bedbug epidemic in France, which was expected to worsen with the 2024 Paris Olympics.

So, at the last minute, we decided to switch to the Costa del Sol. Besides, H had till then never been to Spain, while both of us had already (albeit briefly) visited Nice, Cannes and Monaco decades ago as part of a whirlwind 18-day pan-European package tour.

It must be said that H was a bit disappointed at the time; she is more enamoured with the romanticism somehow associated with the French Riviera. In comparison, the Costa del Sol seemed almost sterile, when measured against the romance the French Riviera conjures up in our imaginations. But in the end, the bedbugs won the day!

So, off we went to Torremolinos, the "pioneer" of the Costa del Sol. This city was the 1st place on the Costa del Sol to be transformed from a sleepy fishing village to a glamorous international resort frequented by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando and Brigitte Bardot. Before that, the Costa del Sol was just a string of quiet, isolated towns. Following Torremolinos' lead, cities like Marbella, Benalmadena and Fuengirola followed the same holiday model to also become famous destinations. As they say, the rest is history.

So, it was with bated breath and a sense of anticipation that we finally arrived in Torremolinos on 14 Nov 2024. H was of course still skeptical, but I was already sold on the place after researching its history when back home. I was excited to experience the Costa del Sol as a whole, and to see how Torremolinos had evolved compared to its neighbours, particularly Benalmadena, Fuengirola and Marbella.

While I was initially focused on these 4 cities, it was the city of Mijas that really pleasantly surprised us most of all. A hidden gem in the Costa del Sol, it is a tale of two towns: the beautiful Mijas Pueblo village high up in the mountains and the typical beach resort down by the coast. In fact, we were surprised to see busloads of Chinese tourists in Mijas Pueblo, likely on day trips from Malaga. Clearly, we weren’t the only ones in on the secret; some travel agents have already figured out what we just discovered about Mijas.

Just outside the Costa del Sol, Ronda is another gem that is perched high up on a steep cliff, with a dramatic gorge dividing the town into 2 parts. We were also surprised to see many tourists walking through the main pedestrian shopping street in the centre of Ronda, in the midst of such a rugged landscape.

Further afield, we managed to also squeeze in a day trip to Cordoba. With 4 UNESCO World Heritage titles including one for its Mosque-Cathedral, Cordoba was well worth the long excursion from our Torremolinos base.

After a month of traversing the Costa del Sol, I must admit: the French Riviera does feel more romantic, after all :). Perhaps, it is because we visited the French Riviera when we were young wide-eyed newlyweds and everything thus felt more magical, hahaha. In contrast, the Costa del Sol was “overrun” with North European retirees at the time we were there, particularly the British and Dutch escaping the harsh winter up north. They were retirees just like us, in a different phase of life - couples still holding hands, not just for emotional connection but also for physical support!

In our experience therefore, the Costa del Sol (at least in late autumn) is a place to slow down and smell the roses, rather than a place to swoon head-over-heels over them. And that may be exactly what we need in this phase of our lives. Eventually, I believe H will also come around to that :)