End of Holidays

My last post from Benalmadena before I head home on Friday.

Time flies. I had a pleasant and relaxing month here in Benalmadena – a nice, laid back town of holiday makers and retirees.

There is quite a big community of foreigners – British, Europeans, Scandinavians, and Russians here. Some bought holiday apartments so they can have a place to stay when they are in town during the cooler months back home.

I can understand why many Europeans want to retire here. Benalmadena is a very likeable town. The place is idyllic, the pace of life is slow and laid-back. Life is simple, and affordable. The town is self-sufficient. The locals are friendly and accepting. A very likeable town indeed.

“According to the latest municipal tourism bulletin for March 2026, Benalmádena continues to consolidate its position as one of the most competitive tourist destinations on the Costa del Sol.” - SUR

There are enough things to do here in Benalmadena. There is the Costa – where sun and sand beckons. And places of interest like the Puerto Marina, the Park of the Doves, cable car rides up to Mount Calamorro.

You can explore the town area, pick a nice cafe or restaurant – of which there are many, have a meal, or a drink and watch the world go by. Just chill and relax. At night, if you like to party, you can head to the square at the costa and party the night away.

If that is not enough excitement for you, you can explore the other towns along the Costa, or the Pueblos that nestled on the mountain side. And then, there is Malaga center, which is about half an hour by train.

It’s your holiday. It is up to you, how you want to spend it. Some people visit the whole of Europe in ten days. Some take ten days to explore a little town. To each his own.

I have been here a few times, and I did the touristic things on my earlier trips. Now, I just relax, do as little as possible.

Some photos of the place.

Till the next time, Benalmadena!

You can click on the picture for a better view.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ BLOGGER ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Thank you for stopping by. Follow me if you find my posts interesting. If you know of anyone who might appreciate them, do recommend the blog to them. Cheers!

Sunset, And Cloud-spotting in Benalmadena

Sunset at the moment is about 8.10 pm. However, it would be another half an hour or more before the sun sets over the horizon of the Mediterranean sea.

I get a good view of the sun setting behind the mountain ranges from Roger’s balcony. If I am lucky, I get treated to some magical, and phenomenal natural light shows and cloud formations.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been lucky this year. I have not seen any impressive sunset, light shows or cloud formations. These are my best captures to date.

The sun, beginning to set. It will eventually go down behind the mountain ranges

Cloudy skies

“Contrails are line-shaped artificial clouds formed when water vapour in airplane engine exhaust condenses and freezes into ice crystals at high, freezing altitudes.” - Wikipedia

These are some more dramatic ones – courtesy of Roger, from the earlier months of the year.

You can click on the picture for a better view.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ BLOGGER ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Thank you for stopping by. Follow me if you find my posts interesting. If you know of anyone who might appreciate them, do recommend the blog to them. Cheers!

Star Gazing in Arroyo de la Miel

In the evenings, when we are not out, we sit out on the balcony to enjoy the night view of the villages at the base of the mountain ranges. I never get tired of the view. The peaceful and serene view is beautiful and very relaxing.

There will be drinks and some light snacks.

From the balcony, I also get a good view of the night sky. This allows me to star gaze. There are not many stars to be seen though – due to the pollution in the sky. If I stare long enough at the sky, I could spot a brief twinkle here and there before they disappear again.

There are about half a dozen of the brighter ones – one of them we identified as Arcturus, the fourth brightest star in the entire night sky and the brightest in the Northern celestial hemisphere.

In the early evening, we see Venus, and when there is a new moon, we will get to see the moon for a few nights.

This is the moon and Venus quite close together. Each night, the moon comes into view an hour later. It also sets later and further away whereas Venus sets earlier each day until we don’t see them together anymore.

The moon and Venus drifting further from each other every night.

This was the last night we saw the moon. The following night, when it came round the corner, we were already in bed.

We once saw an unidentified object zoomed across the sky. Since then, we are always on the lookout for unidentified objects. We did see a couple of bright and brief flashes. But we had no idea what caused them. Other than that, we saw planes coming in and going out. Once in a while, we saw a seagull or two flying pass. And occasionally, we saw fireworks in the distance.

We were accompanied in the evenings by ‘Ocean Radio’ - a radio station that plays very nice hits from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and today. It is a joy to listen to songs we grew up, and are familiar with. They sure brought back memories of days gone.

If you are a fan of oldies, you can try and see if you can get ‘Ocean Radio’. They play non-stop music all day. No commercials and it is free.

So, very pleasant evenings at home.

You can click on the picture for a better view.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ BLOGGER ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Thank you for stopping by. Follow me if you find my posts interesting. If you know of anyone who might appreciate them, do recommend the blog to them. Cheers!

Table For Two

Table for two on the terrace with a view of the sun setting behind the mountain ranges. I don’t know of any restaurant around here that offers such a view.

When we are not dining out, Roger and I take turns to cook simple meals. We eat simply, usually cooking something that is not too much trouble – something simple but healthy. We are not foodies.

We have our dinners on the balcony, or terrace, as some would call it. This way, we get to enjoy and watch the sun set behind the mountain ranges while we eat.

These were some of the dishes I prepared. I am not a good cook. However, thanks to the advance in gourmet science, there are ready-made sauces. Just mix the sauce into whatever you are cooking and viola, you have a nice dish. They certainly make light work of preparing the ingredients from scratch.

Chicken curry

Stir fry asparagus with prawns and carrots.

Stir fried broccoli with carrots

Stir fry eggplant

‘Bak Kut Teh’ – literally translates to 'pork ribs tea'. It is actually pork ribs in herbal soup.

Green Curry

Black pepper chicken

Simple, healthy dishes - usually, one meat dish, one vegetable dish and some eggs or another vegetable dish, and some rice.

You can click on the picture for a better view.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ BLOGGER ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Thank you for stopping by. Follow me if you find my posts interesting. If you know of anyone who might appreciate them, do recommend the blog to them. Cheers!

Sights and Sounds of Arroyo de la Miel

‘The Waiter on Arroyo’, is a set of sculptures comprising a table, two chairs and a waiter. It was the work of Bodero, a multidisciplinary artist based in Benalmádena in 2007.

One day, while drinking coffee, and watching waiters at work, he thought of how service staff had contributed to the development of the Costa del Sol. And yet, their contribution has gone largely unnoticed.

He was inspired to create a set of sculptures “In tribute to the waiters, men and women, who through their work have contributed to the development of the Costa del Sol."

Anyone who has been to Arroyo de la Miel would have noticed the sculptures at the beginning of the Main street diagonally across from the train station.

Roundabouts. There are many roundabouts here in Arroyo de la Miel. This is the one outside of the train station and it marks the beginning of ‘Avenida de la Constitucion’, or the so-called Main Street.

There are many squares or what they called plazas here. Events and celebrations are held in the squares.

A skip truck going on its rounds collecting rubbish. The rubbish bins looked small, but that is only the top section of the bin. The bin below is actually quite big.

Another common sight here is people walking their dogs. It would seem Spanish people like to keep dogs. It is very common to see people walking their dogs throughout the day – and late into the night too. With the number of dogs, there is the problem of dog turds on the streets. Dog owners are required by law to pick up after their dogs, but some of them don’t. You have to be careful not to step on the dog poos.

I remember when I was here on my first visit, the stench of dog urine on a hot summer day was really awful, and dog poos were everywhere. The situation has improved a bit.

The lift in Roger’s apartment. A tiny one. It carries one extra large person, or two large people, or three medium size people, or four slim people. Of course, you can mix and match. But, it can be quite uncomfortable, or uncomfortably intimate if you try to squeeze in.

You can click on the picture for a better view.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ BLOGGER ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Thank you for stopping by. Follow me if you find my posts interesting. If you know of anyone who might appreciate them, do recommend the blog to them. Cheers!

Mount Calamorro

Spain is one of the most mountainous countries in the world. This is Sierra de Mijas – one of the many mountain ranges, and there is Mount Calamorro to the right.

Mount Calamorro can be seen from any point in Benalmadena. It is also one of Benalmadea’s tourist attractions. From Arroyo de la Miel, you can take a cable car at the Teleférico cable car, to the top. The ride is about fifteen minutes.

Cable cars to take you up there.

In Summer, the cable car operates until 11 pm. The view at night will no doubt be very different from that in the day. I am sure it will be just as beautiful, if not more so, with the lights from the towns and villages in the distance.

From the top of the Calamorro mountain, you get a panoramic view of the Costa del Sol. On a clear day, it is possible to see as far as Gibraltar.

I was up there once on my first visit. So, been there done that and I think once is quite enough, since I don’t feel very comfortable in cable cars nor do I like heights.

Mount Calamorro seen from the town.

From the bottom of the park, one can see Mount Calamorro in the back.

You can click on the picture for a better view.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ BLOGGER ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Thank you for stopping by. Follow me if you find my posts interesting. If you know of anyone who might appreciate them, do recommend the blog to them. Cheers!

Park of the Doves / Parque de la Paloma

One of the entrance to the park

The Parque de la Paloma, or Park of the Doves in English, is one of the attractions in Benalmadena. The family friendly park is fifteen minutes’ walk from the town center and about ten minutes’ walk from the Costal de Sol. It is a big park with over 200,000 square meters of space.

In the park, there are playgrounds for children, exercise stations for the adults, cafeterias, a cactus garden, a duck pond and an open area where events are held during summer. There is plenty to interest the visitors – something for everyone in the family.

When I first visited it eight years ago, they were reported as one of the 25 most beautiful parks in Europe. That was when it used to be home to chickens, ducks, swans, rabbits, peacocks, goats and a pair of donkeys. Most of the animals are gone now, so I don’t know if their status has changed.

During the pandemic, they were closed for more than a year. When the park reopened, most of the animals were not seen any more. Now, it’s mostly pigeons, doves, parakeets, a few chickens in pens and a couple of goats.

This is a man-made pond at the lower end of the park. The pond is only about two feet deep and is home to turtles, ducks, and fishes. There used to be a pair of swans. But they are not there anymore.

A lily pond

At the upper end of the park, there is a cacti garden which supposedly has about 400 different species of cactus and succulents. I think the cacti garden has seen better days. The cacti look withered and half dead.

One of three cafes for visitors to take a break, have a snack and/or something to drink.

Another small pond.

Plenty of open spaces for family picnics

You can click on the picture for a better view.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ BLOGGER ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Thank you for stopping by. Follow me if you find my posts interesting. If you know of anyone who might appreciate them, do recommend the blog to them. Cheers!