Incredible how time flies. The parades of Reyes Magos on January 5th, with magic, illusion and wishes passed quickly – surprisingly on the topic of Disney this year in Almuñecar, nothing related to the Three Wise Men and Baby Jesus…
This tradition always amazes us from the North. It brings a lot of joy on the streets, celebrated with the whole community, families, young and old, all enjoying the repartition of sweets and presents. We are used to Christmas in privacy, at home. I spent Christmas Eve with one of my daughters in the City Centre of Almuñécar, where the packed audience on the beachfront Los Bajos was buzzing with people, music and sharing. Very joyful!
The first month of 2025 already passed. Los Nordicos in Almuñecar started the year by organising hikes, painting classes, knitting, bingo and soon a few ‘learn-how-to-fall-without-breaking-anything’ sessions on the beach, other workshops on different topics, and our weekly Wednesday gatherings that started 29th of January.
We just organised the Third Pétanque Championship (Finnkamp) where our team beat the Finns from Benalmádena (Benalmádena Suomalaiset). It was a beautiful, sunny day on the beach with a lovely atmosphere of conviviality, sportsmanship and hot-dogs.
Los Nordicos won 45 out of 78 games (last year the Finns were the winners). The city folks showed up and the prize was delivered by the Ayuntamiento Concejal in charge of sports, Luis Aragon, accompanied by two other Council members.
And to honour the region, the precious trophy of this Championship is a handmade necklace made of Chirimoya seeds! The games engaged 90 players and equal number of supporters, with curious locals strolling by, including one pilgrim for peace in Gaza, who had come biking from Belgium. Next year the return games will be arranged by the Finns in Benalmadena.
Los Nordicos will organise other petanca competitions soon in Almuñecar, on 5th of March against the Nordics-AHN from neighbouring Nerja and on 18th of March against the Scandia club of Benalmadena.
We live in paradise here on the Tropical Coast. We benefit from a fantastic climate, friendly people, seaside and mountains. And we are indeed enjoying collaboration and companionship. Not everyone is as lucky as we are.
I am personally happy for the ceasefire, even though very fragile, in Gaza. Almuñecar is a twin city with Khan Yunis in Gaza, we might be able to support some normalised collaboration soon. The war in Ukraine continues. How can we support peace efforts? We need hope of a better world, in peace and for all. Make the world great again…
2024 was again the hottest since we started keeping records. Spain got its share of both droughts and floods, and a huge amount of people are still affected by the devastation from DANA last year. We will support some rehabilitation works. We start a study group on climate change in January. We will work with the other associations on Costa Tropical and the Ayuntamiento to focus on the topic of water this year. Preservation, care, maintenance, education, arts, more sustainable tourism and agriculture, and more – there is a lot we can do together.
Los Nordicos-Almuñecar (Costa Tropical) is an Association of around 500 Scandinavians, independent from politics and religion, with the purpose to supporting each other and to build bridges within the Spanish society. Check our website if you want to join www.losnordicos.com.
(Feature: Hispano-Nordico Association – Published in the Gazette February Edition – Photo: JM de Haro)
Keywords, Khan Yunis, Gaza, Pétanque Competition, Benalmádena Suomalaiset, Finnkamp
news, andalucia, granada, costa tropical, almunecar, khan yunis, gaza, pétanque competition, benalmádena suomalaiset, finnkamp