According to a report released by the local Tourist Board to coincide with the 32^nd edition of the FITUR International Tourism Fair taking place in Madrid this week, despite the recession a total of 9.1 million holidaymakers visited the Costa del Sol in 2011, up by 3.5% compared with 2010. The average vacation length, however, was down from 13 days to nine, while the average spend also dropped – although only very slightly – from €800 to €760.

Tourism is Málaga’s principal industry, last year representing more than 13% of the province’s GDP which amounted to €8,000 million.

Orange Square, Marbella

According to a recent report in Málaga’s provincial daily Diario Sur, in 2011 the Marbella town hall has processed 976 opening licences, a significant increase of 17.5% compared with 2010 when 806 applications were registered. So it’s very welcome news that despite the global economic crisis, entrepreneurs are betting on Marbella as their Costa del Sol town of choice when it comes to launching a new business.

“These figures reflect Marbella’s dynamism and the strength of its economy, even during such a difficult time,” said local mayor Ángeles Muñoz, who also pointed out the changes in legislation recently introduced by the town hall in order to streamline and simplify what had previously been a slow, complicated and cumbersome process.

In the case of a new bar, for example, reports first had to be produced by the Fire Brigade, as well as the Town Planning, Health and Industry departments meaning that the procedure could take more than a year to complete. But with the Industry delegation now solely responsible for the process, that length of time has been reduced to around three months, while some new businesses – such as fashion retailers and lawyers’ offices – are now often able to open on the very same day that the relevant documentation is presented.

This year’s 17.5% increase is in stark contrast to the previous three consecutive years when decreases in opening licences were recorded. In 2008 the figure for opening licences stood at 1,554, dropping by 18% in 2009 with 1,250 applications, and down again in 2010 with just 806 applications.

High Flyers by Joseph Klibansky, a special guest at the Gallery opening

Showcasing a wealth of quality art from upcoming and acclaimed Spanish and international artists, Marbella’s Red Penguin Art Gallery has just opened in-store at El Corte Inglés Home & Decoration El Capricho. A dynamic gallery acting as a creative platform for talent, creative ideas and diverse cultural interests including not only art itself, but also Vintage Objects and Collectables, Art & Design Books & Magazines, Art Consultancy, Art to rent for companies, Decorative artistic painting, Education, workshops, lectures and events, the inaugural ‘Identity’ exhibition – featuring the works of 18 groundbreaking talents – opened on 9 December and runs until the end of the year.

The works of a stellar line-up of artists are on show, including…

Continue Reading

The McLaren MP4-12C produces less than 330g/km of CO2

Following an agreement back in the summer with the Woking-based automotive innovators, Costa del Sol concessionaires Grupo Guarnieri have been named as the very first McLaren dealership in Spain and also covering Portugal, with the inauguration taking place on 15 December at the company’s Marbella showrooms in San Pedro.

Various different models from the British supercar manufacturer will be on display, including of course…

Continue Reading

Decorhaus: now up to 70% discount

With three furniture superstores – one in Mijas Costa and two in Málaga – together totalling over a huge 12,000m2 of room displays, Decorhaus, as their marketing director Manuel Tejada explains, prides itself on “choice, quality, service and a highly competitive pricing policy”. And, right now, to make sure your money goes further still…

Continue Reading

Spain is a world leader in the development of solar energy, and since the Costa del Sol is blessed with an annual average of more than 300 sunshine days, it is perhaps no coincidence that one of the country’s major players is based in Málaga.

Málaga's Isofotón HQ at the Parque Tecnológico de Andalucía

But then in December of last year, the Spanish government pulled the plug on the previously very generous subsidies set aside for the solar industry…

Continue Reading

For the first time ever, Boston’s prestigious MIT – Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and publishers of the benchmark Technology Review magazine founded in 1989 – sets foot in Europe. To be exact, in Málaga, the capital of the Costa del Sol, where the EmTech Congress – bringing together 500 of the sharpest international minds in the field of emerging technologies – takes place on 26 & 27 October at the city’s landmark Palacio de Congresos.

Only the 3^rd foreign city, after Canton and Bangalore, to host the 2-day event, an illustrious think tank comprising business leaders, top investors, entrepreneurs, researchers, technologists and scholars will be sharing and discussing their knowledge of intelligent cities, biotechnology, nanotechnology, robotics, the media, internet, video games and more besides…

Continue Reading

We’re delighted to welcome Moneycorp to VIVA Recommends – our dynamic new initiative specially designed to showcase and promote the Costa del Sol’s foremost service providers and suppliers that we’re confident you can trust.

Highlights of the Moneycorp microsite include an online Currency Converter; their unique Daily Market Video, keeping you right up to date on the foreign exchange market and a roundup of breaking economic news; and…

Continue Reading

Record numbers of visitors to Spain… I have to admit I get carried away from time to time, I was just going to comment in this post on the detail of tourist stats below. But then I thought back about what such reports have always meant and then delivered for the future, when I have read the ones produced during the past 20 years. Well forgive me, I have seen it before, and then I get excited.

According to a Frontursurvey for the Institute of Tourism Studies…

Continue Reading

Great news for Costa del Sol Apple-addicts – and at VIVA we’ve certainly got more than our fair share – US technology giant Apple is opening a brand new store at Marbella’s landmark La Cañada shopping mall in November. Yep, and just in time for Christmas!

Not only is it the first Apple store to open in Andalucía, but with 65 staff and 1,700m2 of space, it’ll also be by far the biggest in Spain, outdoing both the branches in Madrid and Barcelona. And of course it speaks volumes for the enormous potential of Marbella in particular and the Costa del Sol in general that clearly hasn’t escaped the attention of Apple’s über-astute Board of Directors.

As is by now the custom, plans for their Spanish flagship store are shrouded in secrecy, and there’s no word yet on the actual launch date, though it’s believed to be sometime around the middle of the month. The La Cañada Apple store is located on the ground floor, not that there’s much to see since the entrance and windows are completely obscured by black screens.

But you only have to look at the Spanish jobs section of the Apple website to see that the Marbella store is certainly no mere rumour.

So, can we expect to see Costa del Sol shoppers in the throes of Apple-mania queueing in their thousands to be first through the doors? I reckon you can count on it.  In fact, I can think of at least five people I know who’ll be camping out overnight!