DAY 25 – 26 MARBELLA

Marbella is not a place for me as a lone bikepacker, therefore apologies for the following as this has coloured my view of a place that is better shared.

On the area itself- this whole coastal region is designed to serve the tourist industry & is totally alien to me & different from any part of Spain I’ve travelled to get here. Although I had ridden through a number of tourist hotspots, their identity was in tact. Not so here. With foreign tourists everywhere, in their tens of thousands, the buildings, the infrastructure & the locals are all set up to serve the visiting masses, & charge prices twice those I’ve become used to!! Venture a few streets in from the beaches and you may be lucky and discover the occasional cultural respite in an older quarter. However, these too have now been totally touristified, targeting those looking for a more reserved “cultural” holiday.

Other than checking on places to eat & drink – then indulging in the same – swimming & lying on the beach – I’m unsure what else a tourist has to occupy themselves with. I do see some draw in the nonstop vibrant energy this place has to offer – the hot days, warm nights, the backdrop of a calm blue sea & the energy from mingling with masses of strangers drawn from all over Europe & I did enjoy my two days experience. By then I was quite itching to go. To travel or pedal towards the next horizon, ridge or bend in the trail. As it happens, I have to pick up my hire car to start the first leg of my long journey home.

Blog follower, Steve, had recommended Bennahavis, a few miles above the golf courses where I’d dropped from the mountains. To me, far more interesting than Marbella, but didn’t have the time to follow up – my thanks anyway & noted for the future.

Saturday, Day 25, on the promenade, every several hundred meters or so, Senegalese street vendors were selling their wares. Watching from my cafe table, directly in front, were such guys selling ladies bags. Clearly not approved vendors, they were in a constant game of cat and mouse with the patrolling police cars. To stay ahead, they kept permanent mobile contact with their colleagues. It was Marbella’s version of the opening scene from Guys & Dolls. All bags for sale were either corded together or laid out on large sheets – enabling the guys to pack up & vanish in seconds. The police would then come & go & they would instantly reappear & be back in business in no time. In the one hour I was watching, this scene played out four times. I was rooting for the Senegalese guys. It’s clear, this community sits on the fringe – they are outsiders, in a parallel world; their sales are few, rewards small and, to me, it is disturbing & sad. In the afternoon, I was walking by some shrubs along the front & came across a group huddled down, hiding from their natural enemy. Next day I chatted with one of them, Babbo, who told me it’s a family business & he has been visiting for 5 years & business is always uncertain.