Just about any politician worth his salt on the Costa Tropical is up in Madrid, together with local hotel owners, at the international tourism fair (FITUR).

The Costa Tropical has its own stand, as does the Provincial Tourism Board, but, the Chairman of the Costa Tropical Association of Chiringuitos, was both surprised and dismayed by the fact that the provincial stand seemingly makes no reference to the fact that the province has a coastline.

King Chiringuito, Francisco Trujillo – just kidding, Frank – went up to the fair to present the first Granada, chiringuito guidebook with its 140 pages covering all the gastronomic delights on offer in the Costa Tropical’s chiringuitos. The guide also contains nautical activities; i.e. beach-sports businesses such as windsurfing and diving etc.

Now, according to Sr. Trujillo, all the other provincial stands; Cádiz, Málaga, Huelva and Almería, sport bloody-great photos of their prime beach destinations – not so Granada.

He admits, however, that once you get inside the Granada stand there is material covering the beaches, but nothing visible to the casual passerby.

Editorial comment: that’s the problem, you see: Huelva, Cádiz, Malaga and Almería all have coastal towns as provincials capitals, whereas Granada doesn’t, which goes a long way to explain the very landlubber mentality of the administrations in our provincial capital. The coast is 80 kms away and is somewhere that only exists in July and August, whereas in briny Málaga, the sea breeze wafts through the corridors of decision making.

(News: Granada, Costa Tropical, Andalucia)