Just what is it with all the fires in el campo? July – September are supposedly fire-free months, unless such fires are licensed. Yet, every year, wood from the chirimoyos y olivos is burned in the Vega, day after day.

Depending on the wind direction, though, even the Old Town in Salobreña can be affected. Complaints about the air quality are rife. Nobody knows if these fires are legal (licensed) or not, because it’s the job of La Seprona (the rural arm of the Guardia Civil) to control these things. They’re also charged with controlling the packs of wild dogs – read ‘abandoned’ – which tend to colonise el campo at the sometimes lethal expense of domestic animals.

Good luck, anybody. I’ve seen how comfortable their swivel chairs are; asking them to move from these is like asking snow to flow uphill.