Scandinavian ‘greyhounds’ love the Costa del Sol. Most of the estimated 80.000 Scandinavian dwellers on the Costa live west of Malaga, in Torremolinos, Benalmádena, Fuengirola,Mijas, Marbella, and Estepona. More exact numbers are difficult to get because many expats still refrain from registering with the local authorities. During the last five years the eastern side of Malaga and particularly the Costa Tropical has gained tremendous popularity among Scandinavians, especially the 60+ category. Swedes, Danes and Norwegians seem to prefer Nerja and Almuñecar to Marbella and Fuengirola. Why? I think it is because Nerja and Almunecar are idyllic places, still close to nature and rural life and not yet invaded by mass tourism. The tropical climate, the friendly people and the stress-free way of life add to the picture.

The Finns (20.000 on the Costa), by tradition thrive in Torremolinos, Fuengirola, Mijas  and Marbella where they have established their own ‘infrastructure’ with Finnish restaurants, shops, schools etc. I have no exact figures regarding Scandinavians in Almuñecar, but I would guess that today there are about 500 Swedish, 600 Danish and only about 50 Finnish expats. In Nerja, the Finnish settlement consists of about 100 persons, half of which live up in the hills of San Juan de Capistrano. The number of Norwegians in Almunecar and Nerja is difficult to tell. You hear Norwegian spoken all over the place, but counting their number is another piece of cake. This is because the ‘nordmenn’ tend to keep to themselves, unlike the Swedes, Danes and Finns who have their own associations. In Almuñecar we have AHN Los Nórdicos with mostly Swedish and a handful of Finnish and Norwegian members, and the Danish club Hispano-Danesa with more than 300 members each.  Asociación Hispano-Nórdica (AHN) in Nerja is the biggest Scandinavian club on the coast with more than 700 members, including a small number of Norwegians and Finns.

The number of Scandinavian pensioners looking for a meaningful and active way of leading a full, healthy and active life in beautiful surroundings is growing fast. Seniors from the Nordic countries form an important target group for the tourist sector. In October, a group of hoteliers from Almuñecar participated in the fair Senior 2013 in Stockholm. This lifestyle-fair is the biggest event for active seniors ever arranged in Sweden. The delegation from Almuñecar, headed by representatives from Hotel Helios, Bahia Group and Best Alcázar presented audiovisual touristic material and leaflets in Swedish describing the beautiful landscape, culture, history, climate and gastronomy of Almuñecar and La Herradura.  Existing and future hotels, restaurants and other tourist establishments in the region were also presented. The promotion was supported by Patronato Provicial de Turismo de Granada. Hopefully many new seniors were tempted to spend the fall and winter months down here. The Scandinavian 60+ citizens are an important contribution to the struggling economy on the Costa Tropical.

All this might sound like a promotion of sedentary living for the elderly, but being part of all the activities and fun our group have in Almuñecar, not least in our club Los Nórdicos, I can say that our life down here is far from boring. And Almuñecar has a lot to offer also for the younger generations.As a proof of this I can refer to visiting grandchildren who use to take part in all kinds of sports activities and sometimes come home in the early hours from nightclubs and chiringuitos downtown. So Almuñecar seems to have e a lot to offer for many different tastes. But I do hope that the unique core and spirit of Almuñecar will not be spoiled. Here, the tourist sector has a great responsibility in the targeting of their promotional activities.