The Nordic people in Almuñécar and Costa Tropical have developed their own version of a gymkhana (yincana/gincana in Spanish), a yearly ‘car rally.’
The first one took place more than 50 years ago, in 1974, so there is history being made. The rally consists in organising an exciting trail that takes you through the region to unexpected places.
Normally ten teams, with four participants in each car, compete. Around ten stations along the way are staffed with volunteers, supervising more or less difficult tasks to be solved and providing points based on performance.
The rally ends up at an unknown hotel, with capacity of hosting 50+ cheerful and hungry Scandinavians. The team with most points wins the trophy – and the lottery defines which team gets the honour of organising next year’s rally. This is usually the highlight activity of the year for Los Nórdicos!
This year offered glorious weather and an unusually long route, 150 km, on the 15-16 of October. The journey went from the coast up to Sierra Nevada, with the highest stations at 2,000 meters altitude, via many exciting spots, ending in Mengibar.
The organisers (Max Carlsson, Agneta Hjortzberg and Magnus Sjöberg) dispatched the cars, equipping everyone with bingo cards, directions and Ferrari candy as the rides began.
They shared their experience with me. Agneta said, “I took the lead in the organising group, and I found that the most gratifying part has been the contact with all the volunteers and participants. New and old acquaintances have been made and/or strengthened!”
Magnus loved to organise this rally “but the most fun part is probably getting to discover all the new roads and places that you might not otherwise get to,” he said. Max was most excited over the visit to Guadix and the cave dwellings there, in addition to the end station and fantastic hotel.
Pelle Hall, one of the volunteers said what most participants echoed: “The best was the beautiful nature we got to enjoy during the car rally, and of course all the nice people we had the pleasure of spending time with.”
Cecilia De Govia and Tomas Öqvist were waiting at the first station with tricky tasks. Calculating the volume of the dam is not exactly easy… Other stations offered creative, physical, musical and mathematical exercises. Several volunteers awarded points depending on performance.
One of the memorable moments for Katarina Sparrow and Leif Haglund, stationed in the square in the nice but sleepy Moreda village, was to observe the locals, mostly elderly men, sitting on their usual benches. “They watched in bewilderment as we prepared for the task for the participants. Their surprise increased as car after car arrived, four people happily jumping out and then throwing small socks filled with dried beans across the square. How crazy are those guiris! At least they got a fun story to share with friends and family,” they laughed.
The unforeseen highlight of the year was probably the involvement of uninvited horses. Helle and Klaus Kjeldal explain: “We set up our station at Puerto de la Ragua at 2000 meters altitude. In winter, this is a place where you can go cross-country skiing. We had no clue this was also a site for wild horses – and a very curious one visited us. It ate our tablecloth and happily started munching on the coffee bread! We had to move our activity to a higher altitude, because we couldn’t move the horse.”
The occasional miss navigation increases the excitement – for both organisers and travellers, but everyone finally made it to the finish line. After checking in at the Hotel Palacio de Mengíbar, some had time to go to the spa, while others quenched their thirst and enjoyed the charm of the courtyard before the welcome drink and dinner. This beautiful hotel was an Islamic fort in the Middle Ages, conquered by Christian troops in the 14th century and turned into a castle.
This year’s winners, Olle and Eyglo Bergh, with Tommy and Ing-Marie Björk, received the coveted trophy from last year’s champions. And the prize to organise next year’s rally went to Ulla-Stina and Bobo Spetz with Vicki Hofman-Bang and Ulf Widén.
Agneta leaves them with one recommendation: “Participants should be prepared for and understand that we are amateurs who plan the rally during months. The goal is to have fun, get to know the surroundings, while fulfilling the participants’ expectations as much as possible. And to enjoy the ride”.
We welcome great suggestions for locations and sleepovers for next year’s rally/gymkhana! You can find out more about Los Nórdicos by visiting their website.
(Feature: Los Nordicos, Almuñécar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)
Keywords: Rally, Gymkhana, Puerto de la Ragua, Wild Horses
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