ONE BIG FAMILY

AWHIRLWIND

Ma- take you far and wide in just a few square kilometres. You might start by gazing out at luscious 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 16,000-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 halting Spanglish.

“We come here for the sangria,” Londoner Richie tells the Olive Press in the shade 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.”

And how much did she give the sangria in El Castillo? “Oh, this is a nine,” she declares - nowhere gets a ten. “I think it’s the cinnamon. They get it just right.” El Castillo gets its name 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 newly-formed United Kingdom just half a

Continues on Page 2