Well, they pulled it off, with over 30,000 people visiting the Costa Tropical’s first combined gastronomic fair,  in a good part, thanks to the organizational pull and punch of the Ideal provincial newspaper, who got the whole thing going.

The 4-day event (21st to the 24th), which was held on Playa Poniente or el Pelaillo, as it is popularly known, was a great success, judging by the numbers and enthusiasm from both the general public and the stands, where restaurants and wine merchants showed off their very best produce.

But it wasn’t all eating and drinking, because there were also live performances from coros rocieros – one was from Castell de Ferro (Amistad Rociera). Even the chef from Restaurante Atrium was up on the stage flapping his lungs and vocal cords in true Flamenco style. There was also a DJ belting out summer-holiday songs to stimulate gastric juices!

Miguel Castilla from Restaurante Reina Sofia was there, representing Almunecar with his excellent grub – Dave and I immediately deprived him of a plate of his Gambas a la Cora!

Just about everybody agreed that the fair should be repeated in August as well, as there is not much planned, in the way of activities, on Playa Granada for the rest of the summer, although there is not much chance of another one before Autumn… so you’ve got time to work off some fat to make room for the next one.

Fernando Argüelles, who covered the event for Ideal, said that his newspaper was looking into a similar event for around about the same time and that the Motril Town Hall and the Asociacion de Hosteleros were both very receptive to the idea, so keep your fingers crossed.

One of the key attitudes shared amongst the participating businesses was of team spirit, so that one restaurant, for example, ran out of something, the others would immediately offer theirs. They were also trying out each other’s dishes as well – a sort of: “give a ration of your BBQ’d chicken wings and try our special rice dish.” In other words, there was no rivalry, even though they had never worked alongside each other before,  just a spirit of “This is fun; let’s do it again.”

Finally, there were about four different bodegas from around the province, showing off their prized wines – it was a great opportunity for wine lovers.

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(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)