More English and Irish than Spanish?

I was 15 the last time I visited Nerja.  At least I think I was, I could have been 16?  Eamo was 16 the last he visited Nerja.  Weird, huh?  Maybe we crossed paths and didn’t even know it.

All the memories came flooding back to Eamo, the second we arrived in the little Spanish town.  For me… nothing.  I don’t remember a damn thing about this place.  I really should have, but all I remember is that I was here once upon a time.

Nerja is beautiful, it really is.  It’s a quintessential Spanish town with cute white houses and perfect little villas overlooking the Mediterranean.  Palm trees bustling full parrots line the Main Square all the way down the promenade to the Balcon de Europa, where you can get a pretty awesome panoramic snap of this part of the Costa del Sol.

It’s the middle of January and it’s 20 degrees; what more do you want, right?

Here’s the thing… it’s full of English and Irish people, probably more so than Spanish.  Restaurants and cafe’s are advertising full English breakfasts, supermarkets are selling baked beans and crumpets, and bars and pubs are flogging Guinness and showing the latest match.

Now, I don’t want to sound like a hypocrite, because truth be told, I did go and get my hair done here at an English hairdressers, but we didn’t travel all this way (nearly 2700 km) to be surrounded by fellow English and Irishmen.

Despite the lack of actual local Spaniards, Nerja is absolutely worth a visit.  The beaches are spotless and powdery, and with mountains to your left and what seems like an endless ocean stretched out before you, Nerja’s beaches offer some of the best views you can find from a sunbed.  The streets are pretty and quaint with their flower decorated balconies and mosaic pebbled floors and the sun is always shining all year round.

There isn’t a huge amount to do in Nerja – if you’re happy just working on your tan on the beach, or grazing on local tapas in one of the many bars and restaurants, or perhaps indulging in a bit of retail therapy then it’s ideal.

The most popular place to visit is the Cueva de Nerja – a series of caverns close to the little Spanish town that stretch for nearly 5 km.  The caves were re-discovered (in modern times) in the late 90’s by five friends.  Today, the caves are Nerja’s biggest tourist attraction.  Its €10 entry and is worth a couple of hours away from the beach.

Camping El Pino was our campsite of choice whilst we were staying in this beautiful part of the Costa del Sol.  We were skeptical, to say the least, before we rocked up here – they haven’t had the nicest reviews written about them online, so we weren’t holding out much hope.  Apart from the crap Wi-Fi, the place was lovely.  It just goes to show that you really should take other people’s opinions with a pinch of salt, I guess.  The reception staff were super friendly and there was always someone there around the clock (even it was just security).  The showers were hot and clean, as were the toilets.  The shop was fully stocked with a great choice of stuff and the bar and restaurant actually sold half decent food.

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C x

Distance travelled so far: 2795 km

Days away: 77