A REAL CHARMER
Manilva
AWHIRLWIND tour of Manilva will take you far and wide in just a few square kilometres.
You might start by gazing out at luxury yachts bobbing by the glitzy port, or the glistening sea along a peaceful beach trail.
And then minutes later you could find yourself among rolling green hills populated by luxury villas, or burgeoning vineyards around a whitewashed village.
And on your journey you will meet a kaleidoscope of people from all walks of life, each with a story to tell.
Manilva officially has the highest percentage of Brits on the padron in Spain, with between a third and a quarter of the 18,000-strong municipality hailing from Blighty.
But it’s not just Brits - foreign, settled residents, many from northern European countries, make up 42% of Manilva’s
population. In spite of these high numbers, Manilva is not simply an expat colony - not at all.
The district has a strong and thriving Spanish culture and community that lives extremely harmoniously and very cordially with their foreign guests.
The locals and the foreigners mix and mingle in the same bars and restaurants and the pitter patter of conversation dances between English and Spanish - and very often
FIESTA FEVER: Spanish locals show off their Sevillanas dance skills
halting Spanglish “We come here for the sangria,” Londoner Richie tells the Olive Press in the shade
CULTURE AND COMMUNITY
of a Spanish bar near El Castillo, a tiny fishing settlement buzzing with Spaniards and foreigners.
“We go around to all the towns along the Costa del Sol,” his friend Siobhan adds. “We even go as far as Algeciras. I give the sangrias in each place a score out of ten.”
from the castle that guards its sea walls. Built in 1767 by engineer Miguel del Castillo and builder Jose Vargas, it was financed by Sevilla businessman Francisco Paulino.
The fortification was planned with war against the English in mind, with Gibraltar having fallen to the new
ing 70 people. Today it is a tourist attraction in an ideal location, but beware - it doesn’t open on weekends!
Just a short stroll along the beachfront from El Castillo, you will find a port unlike any other port on the Costa del Sol.
Puerto de la Duquesa is the only one to face out to sea. From each of the three edges you can gaze out into the Mediterranean.
Duquesa is, without a doubt, the thriving coastal jewel in the Manilva crown, benefiting from tourism and For most of its history Manilva has pendent on and agriculture, ly its vineyards celebrated
But over the last couple of decades, as this little township has wel comed an influx of tourists and de velopment, it has still maintained a peaceful air.
Though the Brits and the 180-odd other nationalities come from all walks of life and occupations ( some even set up a newspaper here they all have something in common. Like Manilva’s first health tourist, Julius Caesar, who visited the nearby Roman baths around 60BC, it seems that people come here for a temperate life be neath the jaw-dropping mountains, fed by the Bob and Jen from Essex told the Olover Belgian fries that they manage to come to Manilva once a month for as long as 10 days a pop. But they are content with splitting their time in this way, and are not tempted to fully retire to the sun just yet.
Bob, who works in the solar energy business, still has a few more panels to lay in this booming industry before he’s ready to hang up his work
But it is partly due to content second-home expats such as Bob and Jen that the unpretentious Duquesa has undergone such a growth spurt in the last decade - and the expansion doesn’t look like slowing down anytime soon.
New cafes, bars and restaurants with cuisine from all over the world are springing up as a result of its growing tourism. Aside from the fantastic prices of homes in the area, the environment is distinctly low rise, largely green and everything is close to the sea.
But when you do venture inland, you will head into wine-making territory. Manilva town, a sleepy, glittering village nestled on a hilltop, is famous for its sweet wine. It, and the process of making it, is something indelibly imprinted on the locals. Even our taxi driver proselytised over the wonders of this wine - although he did advise us not to get through more than one bottle at a time.
When you arrive in the village, you will see that the central Plaza de la Vendimia (Wine harvest square) is adorned with a spectacular mural depicting workers in
SAMPLE: Journalist Walter tastes the local Manilva wine
vineyards.
And in the nearby interpretation Centre, opened in 2010, you can do vocational courses in wine-making, aimed at inspiring the younger generations and training future professionals.
The locals like to boast that the moscatel de Alejandria is the best table grape in the whole of Spain and that it is specific to Manilva, whose slopes have been continuously planted with vineyards since 1501.
The basic wine made from this grape - the Manilva wine - is known as ‘vino mosto’ , and in the olden days, almost the entire town earned a living from it.
The trucks would come from as far as Bilbao to take the grapes and whatever was left would be turned into wine.
Almost all of the locals that the Olive Press spoke to could remember back to those days. Most of them had been living in Manilva village all their lives, they all knew each other, and they had done so since childhood.
“This place is one big family,” lifelong resident Eligio told us.
Eligio, who’s sun-beaten blue eyes twinkled as he regaled us with tales of Manilva over two cañitas that he generously bought for us, said he spent most of his free time in the village church.
Nearby, a sign displayed the village motto: Very noble, very loyal.
Then another man who had been listening in walked over to our table, put his hands on Eligio’s shoulders, and told us with all sincerity that our new friend embodied this motto.
It turned out that they had known each other since they were kneehigh, and Eligio had even worked for the man’s father.
Further along, and buried in Manilva’s historical heart a short walk from the centre, is St Anne’s church and adjoining cemetery, where Eligio liked to spend his time.
Who he was remembering he did not tell us.
Turn a corner and there the 250-year-old church is; striking yet simplistic, bold yet unassuming.
Sauntering through the maze of white houses with their terracotta roofs, every ‘ Hola ’ from passers-by strengthens the feeling that Manilva is very much Spanish still.
Up on the mountain it is removed from the wave of tourism lapping at the coast.
And then there are the postcard views from every direction, white houses spill down into vast vineyards with mountains out behind and the Costa del Sol to the front.
The Pedreta viewpoint delivers a view stretching from the white cluster that is the mountain-clinging Casares village to the coastal hubs of Estepona and Marbella below. A rich network of tracks is visible in between, inviting you out to hike, cycle or horse-ride.
Another short walk and a hop and you are down in San Luis de Sabinillas, or just ‘Sabby’ as it is affectionately known to the expats.
Like everywhere else on the coast, it too has flourished under tourism in the last decade.
But there remains a tangible working atmosphere (it still has a small fishing fleet) and this is still a town where Spanish people enjoy their Spanish lives. A coastal stroll
from Puerto Duquesa, Sabinillas has also become a popular destination for expats.
It is certainly a distinct community with a healthy mix of Spanish, expat English, German, as well as Moroccans and South Americans.
It is also a veritable hive of commerce. While it wins no beauty awards, there is a great range of supermarkets and shops in Sabinillas.
‘Wall Street’ is where traditionally all the banks and insurance companies centred and down on the beach there is a great range of bars and restaurants which stretch into the distance on either side.
Back on the blue flag beach, that stretches all the way from Rio Manilva to Puerto Duquesa, fishermen still launch their boats and are often met by waiting restaurateurs upon their return, eagerly awaiting the days catch.
Sabinillas effectively bridges the gap between the multi-cultural, tourism-driven hub of Puerto Duquesa and the withdrawn, tranquil, traditional village of Manilva.
With the right blend of coastal expansion and Spanish tradition, it is easy to see why Manilva is making a name for more than just its wine.
The blue flag beach stretches from Rio Manilva to Duquesa
WILD WEST: Sabinillas and Duquesa (top) are flanked inland by green hills full of trails, while Castillo fort dates back to 1767
PICTURE
CREDITS: Walter Finch
SWEET TASTE OF SUCCESS
The traditional festival that heralds the first wine of the season
EVERY September Manilva celebrates its winemaking tradition in a three day harvest festival, with flamenco dancers, brass bands, music and dancing into the early hours in the Plaza de la Vendimia.
The sweet moscatel grapes have been grown in the vast vineyards that surround Manilva since the 16th century and are used to make the aptly named Manilva wine, famous throughout Spain.
Although vines have been grown on the sun ny slopes of the town for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, it is fairly recently that wine became one of the area’s main products.
Winemaking became the town’s
ing visitors from across the region to see the winemaking process.
As well as making the sweet dessert wine, the moscatel grapes are also dried on the hillsides to make the famous ‘Malaga raisins’.
The festival has even been declared of Tourist Interest by the Provincial Council of Malaga.
During the celebration of the end of the grape harvest, the very first wines produced are presented with tastings handed out of the sweet wine.
In the early hours of the morning, a Rocio Mass is celebrated, giving way to the procession of Our Lady
ditional villagers, who pray for the fields of Manilva to be protected. In Manilva, it is still customary to step on the grapes for hours on a square surface with a protruding edge and a slight tilt towards the centre of either side. It is through this point that the
main economic activity after the Spanish Civil War because of its ideally suited climate and soil. The festival was founded in the early 1960s and has become an important part of the local calendar, drawof Sorrows through the village streets. This procession is accompanied by local young women dressed as trajuice, or must, flows into a wellshaped tank on a lower level. Every year, a resident is honoured to be in charge of treading this fruit. The crowds gather on Calle Mar to witness the grape treading and taste the first wine of the season.
Wine and music are important to the folk
TRADITIONAL:
of Manilva
IF you are lucky enough to dine at the swish Basque Restaurante Martin Berasategui – which has three Michelin stars – order a bottle of Nilva from Manilva. Produced from moscatel grapes grown on a tiny vineyard overlooking the sea, the dry fruity white made a big impression on the 12-Michelin-starred chef, Berasategui, who personally selected it for his wine list.
Also, the classic wine Nilva has been officially ‘the best white wine’ of the province, thanks to having won the annual Sabor a Malaga competition.
This success would be remarkable by any standards but the fact that Nilva is the realisation of one Albacete man’s dream makes it all the more astonishing.
When I ask Argimiro Martinez Moreno how many people he employs to make the wine, his answer is simple: “One, including himself!”
Not long ago the local wine came in a plastic bottle with no label.
Humble origins
Wine from Manilva vineyard makes it onto the wine list of one of the world’s best restaurants, writes Elena Goçmen Rueda
Now Argimiro is leading a battle to revive and promote local winemaking which, after all, has been going on since Roman times.
Several restaurants and bars along the coast have stocked the delicious wine, but there should be far more.
“And it’s important that local establishments serve up local produce, especially since Brits and Scandinavians love dry, fruity wine and have given great feedback.”
The Manilva vineyards are at the heart of a massive project to boost local tourism.
Argimiro also runs the wine museum and ‘wine interpretation centre’ at the entrance to Manilva, a treasure trove of exhibits,
HONOURED:
with audiovisual rooms showing educational films, a chance to see wine being made, and local art exhibitions which change monthly.
Guided tours of some two hours must always be booked in advance and cost around €25 per person.
The visit begins by reviewing the wine history of Manilva, viewing a video and touring the three different rooms: Viticulture, local winemaking and Vendimia
(grape harvest and festivities)
Tours take place in Spanish, English or French, but Argimiro says he happily caters for groups of other nationalities.
The impressive museum building, which boasts an underground bodega and lab, huge auditorium, bar and terrace, was built by the town hall in 2008 and used for two years as a wine school (Argimiro was originally a teacher) for 24 lucky students until the Junta ran out of funds.
Now he is convinced that the town can cash in on the estimated six million people coming to Spain for wine tourism each year.
“I believe we can attract a new cultured crowd to Manilva, aside from the traditional beach tourism,” he says.
More than just a tourist attraction, the museum’s purpose is to inform locals as well as visitors about the area’s long-standing winemaking tradition. And also the need to protect it.
Maps and guides prove that some 500 years ago Manilva was covered in vines, but since then nearly three quarters have vanished, most of them in the last two decades due to development.
“Ultimately owners made a lot
more money selling their land to developers than from making wine,” he explains. “Perhaps 30 to 40 times that amount.”
Some of the most productive vineyards, such as around Dona Julia golf course in Casares, have long gone due to the construction boom.
One of Spain’s most infamous developers Rafael Gomez Sanchez, aka Sandokan, allegedly bought up around half of the land surrounding Manilva village and it was only the property crash that stopped him digging up the lot.
“I am passionate about protecting the vines,” says Argimiro, who is now lobbying the authorities to protect the vineyards and help give them new life.
An agricultural engineer by trade, he moved his family to Estepona in 2009 and rented the vineyard ‘del Penoncillo’ from the town hall
WINE MAN: Argimiro is a one man show for €15,000 a year, including the use of the bodega and museum.
“It certainly hasn’t been easy,” admits Argimiro, who currently bottles between 2,500 and 5,000 bottles a year depending on the harvest.
It’s hard not to admire this man for uprooting his life in Albacete to bring his wife, Inma, and kids Argimiro and Carlos with him on his wine crusade. He was raised by a father who made wine as a hobby, so the passion for winemaking is almost genetic.
And his agricultural engineering degree, which he got in Cordoba, led to designing vineyards and
other projects. Now his key goal is to get more international chefs, like Martin Berasategui, to visit the winery and stock his wines. He had first met Berasategui in San Sebastian in 2015 after sending him some samples to try.
“He has since completely backed our vision, sponsored some vines and is planning to visit in the future to continue supporting our vision.”
If you don’t have the budget to sample Nilva along with a threecourse dinner at Restaurante Martin Berasategui, you can buy a bottle from the museum in Manilva.
An organic variety of the wine is also sold in the shop, which sells for €15. If you prefer to buy it online, the Nilva Eco sells for €19.50, leaving the classic Nilva at €16.50.
You never know, the local restaurants nearby might let you open it with lunch.
Martin Berasategui has approved Argimiro’s wine
YULIAM’S
DAYS OF EMPIRE
Once upon a time Manilva was among the richest and bestconnected places in the world
THE legacy of the Roman Empire permeates throughout the Iberian Peninsula, not least on the Costa de Sol which acted as the gateway to the Mediterranean.
The Romans’ love affair with the Costa del Sol was not hard to under stand.
Apart from the climate, bountiful fishing and rich pastureland, the area was a vital corridor to the Em pire’s first line of defence. Manilva and Sabanillas thrived as Roman towns, evidenced by the many ruins that you can still see here today, such as the Roman baths, believed to have been frequented by Julius Caesar's army and the Ciudad Romana de Lacipo, an ancient Roman outpost just north of Manilva.
First, a little history … Baetica, the Roman name for Andalucia, became one of the most dynamic and economical-
ly developed regions in the farflung Roman Empire, rich in resources and modern in outlook, even welcoming liberated slaves. Before the legions arrived in the second century AD life was hard and simple, the land dotted with small and isolated agricultural settlements. However the development of a fish salting industry fuelled by increasing Roman presence on the Iberian Peninsula saw most of these segmented populations moving to the coast, settling in the town we now call San Luis de Sabinillas. At that time, salt curing was the best method for preserving fish for export by sea to Rome and other parts of the Empire. Manilva became known as Saltum and came under the administration of Conventus Gaditanus - a vast region stretching from modern-day Cadiz province and along the the entire Costa del Sol to Almeria. Casares, under the Roman name of Lacipo, was a strategic gateway from the valley to the mountains of Cadiz and Malaga. Manilva and Casares boasted road links as good as EU funding has provided today. They were connected by one of Baetica’s main thoroughfares to Carteia
(currently San Roque where the Roman ruins of Carteia still partially survive), Corduva (now Cordoba) and the city of Baetica, together with Italica and Hispalis, both in the Sevilla region.
Some of that amazing infrastructure still survives. Roman remains can be found in Sabinillas, Haza del Casareño, Lagunetas, Manilva and Castillo de la Duquesa which showcases the remnants of a Roman Baths, town, curing factory and even a necropolis.
Julius Caesar himself is said to have cured a skin complaint in the spring
Protected as an Asset of Cultural Interest, the ruins can be visited today and undoubtedly the most popular ‘asset’ is La Hedionda, the Roman baths built around a natural mineral spring where Julius Caesar himself is said to have cured a skin complaint. Still in working order today, the name means Stinky in Spanish and comes from the sulphurous waters which smell like rotten eggs.
The good times ended when Baetica was invaded by Visigoths and the Roman’s Iberian empire fell around 5AD. People started to abandon the coastal settlements, returning inland in search of other ways to survive, perchance to dream of the glory that was once Rome.
TIMELINE OF MANILVA
● 6,000 BC - Neolithic farmers arrived in Manilva, leaving stone tools and pots in places like the Sierra de la Utrera caves, just north of Sabinillas.
● 1,500 BC - The Phoenician civilisation spread across the Mediterranean, leading to settle- ments in Cadiz (meaning ‘fort’ in Phoenician) and the Castillejos de Alcorrín settlement in Manilva.
● 200 BC - The Romans invaded the Iberian pe- ninsula in 206 BC, esta- blishing a fishing village in Manilva. Julius Cae- sar became governor of Southern Spain in 61 BC and is believed to have cured a skin disease in the Roman baths at Hedionda.
● 711 AD - The Moors invaded the Iberian penin- sula and established the settlement of Martagina just south of La Chullera.
● 1400-1500 AD - Barbary pirate raids forced most of the population to flee into the hills for security. However, many still returned daily to fish.
● 1515-20 - Following the Reconquista, the Duke of Arcos conceded land in present-day Manilva to the fortified town of Ca- sares for growing grape- vines.
● 1530 - The hilltop village of Manilva proper began to take shape thanks to its Duke, who parcelled off pieces of land to en- courage people to settle there.
● 1722 - The Church of Santa Ana in Manilva village was destroyed by an earthquake.
● 1796 - Manilva gained independence from Ca- sares, when it was given a ‘royal privilege of the town’.
HISTORIC: Manilva has been on the map since Roman times
THERAPY: A woman rubs on healing mud at the Roman baths
PEARL OF MANILVA
BUSTLING Duquesa ma-
rina is cut off from the mainland by a whitewashed shell of intricate buildings, balconies, plazas and steps, like an oyster enclosing its pearl.
The back end of the port is lined with imposing Chinese restaurants, immaculate in appearance; they are the back-
Don’t miss Puerto Duquesa’s picturesque waterfront
bone of this multi-cultural hub.
A walk around the port, which scarcely takes longer than five minutes, reveals cuisine from all over the world.
As well as restaurants serving cuisine from across Asia-China, India, Japan and Singapore,
there is a plethora of European options.
It could be argued that Duquesa lacks Spanish identity as there are more English voices than yachts and more burgers than tapas.
But by taking a step out either
side of the port, the expansive soft sand beaches will firmly remind you where you are.
This meeting point of friends and cultures sings through its restaurants, cafes, bars, the people who work in them and the people who sit in the sun and enjoy them.
And Duquesa is, more than anything, likeable, as if it were Puerto Banus’ younger, more relatable and friendly sibling. This sociable spirit emanates not only from tourists and expats but the staff, who hail from all over the world including Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia.
Affordable
Puerto Banus may win in terms of glamour but Duquesa is more affable and, importantly, much more affordable.
It is still very much a 21st century place too, with wifi freely available in all the cafes and every possible amenity a short distance away. But Duquesa doesn’t feel like it has been ruined by tourism or de-Spained by its growth.
The wonderful variety on offer in such a small enclosed place shows this port is precisely designed to be quirky, eclectic and affordable.
CHARMING: Boats at their moorings in the marina, which hosts many restaurants and shops
