When we say that at Back to la Tierra we are close to everything but away from it all you may wonder what we mean exactly.

What are we close to? and what are we away from?

We are located close to Mijas Pueblo in the province of Málaga i.e. the Costa del Sol. When you hear about this sunny coast your first association will be tourism, lots of it. German beer drinkers, Dutch kroket eaters, people partying till sunrise to sleep out their hangovers under the beach parasols for the rest of the day. A place where hedonism is a common religion. Yes, these things happen, just like they happen at your home town on a Saturday night (except for the beach parasol). In fact, you may recognise the crowd. 

There is an interesting arrogance involved when we talk about wanting to experience the real Spain, the real anything really. Don’t worry, we all do it, but it turns out that reality aint always pretty. At a time when everyone travels everywhere we are all out to discover secret spots only to then share them with countless followers on instagram with the appropriate location hashtag# and filter.

What we personally love about this coast is the incredible variety of people, nationalities, languages and cultures. Most people were born here, most with a Spanish passport, some, like our children, with a different one. Some moved here at a later stage, built their lives here and morph from one language to another in seconds including facial expressions and mannerisms. Some come here and pretend that they are home and continue drinking tea and speaking their own language with no intention of wanting to understand anything foreign. Some come here on a holiday to briefly enjoy the sun and lack of obligations.

But we are all here because we love it for what it is.

I am coming across more and more children of people I went to school with in the 70’s who grew up on the coast and speak slang Spanish with their blue eyes and Swedish blond hair. The Costa del Sol may actually be Europe in a nutshell. In all it’s brilliant imperfection.

We love to go to our favourite Spanish beach restaurant and have our plate of boquerones fritos and pimientos asados. We also love the fact that we can get German bread, Swedish cakes and Moroccan couscous in the different shops. We love being close (max 1.5 hours) to the fascinating cities of Cordoba, Granada and Sevilla and even closer to smaller and equally fascinating towns, buildings and museums and the Atlantic beaches of Tarifa and Conil.

I am writing this in chiringuito Kalifato (I like to write in chiringuitos ;) where I used to come as a young girl with my parents and friends. The same owner is still running it, albeit, after 35 years, a little older and greyer. It’s literally on on the beach, Sunday lunch chaos, kids running around with ice creams, people playing ball, swimming, paddling. The restaurant/bar La Cubana a little further on is more colourful the clientele slightly younger and trendier. Prices are good in both, the vibe can’t be better. 

Were close to that too. 

As I drive home in 10 minutes down our sandy, bumpy road and the finca gate closes behind me I realise: this spot really has the best of all worlds. 

Come and see what YOU think