Spain, Day 2. Marbella

 M&M were keen to take us to a local market to buy provisions for the week. I was unsure about Marbella but avoiding the sea front and busy areas we arrived at the market on the outskirts. I love markets and I was not to be disappointed. Part food and part clothing this local outdoor market was absolutely superb. We mooched around buying wonderful produce and I even bought a shirt. Heather and I were delighted to be able to practise our Spanish on the friendly and patient stall holders. Excellent.

Having completed our purchases it was time for a coffee. This was when the jinx of travelling with the Pickwells kicked in. We couldn't find a bar/cafe open for coffee as there had been a power cut. A beer or water had to suffice. No problem thought I. Refreshed we drove to the old town of Marbella and parked in an underground carpark on the edge. We headed into the delightful narrow streets with gleaming white buildings looking for a restaurant for lunch. Closed!!! It would appear that this was the beginning of a 24 hour outage that hit all of Spain and Portugal and much of France and, I think, some of Italy. We did manage to find somewhere that was open (most had closed) that served sandwiches and cold drinks. There was much discussion: was this a cyber attack, the end of times or the Russians!! The old town of Marbella is, however, beautiful and we enjoyed wandering the narrow streets before returning to the car and home. The car was, of course, in an underground car park; so first find your car. It was also necessary to have cash as card machines were not working. We had torches on our phones but, of course, they were going to run out of battery and couldn't be recharged. Memo to oneself pack a wind up torch. We did find the car and set out to negotiate the roads home. No traffic lights were working so it was somewhat chaotic but the Spanish police appeared from nowhere and, with much whistle blowing, soon had things moving fairly smoothly. 

Arriving back in Fuengirola, there were huge queues everywhere, especially at those filling stations that were open (perhaps with their own generators?). Back at the villa not only did we have no power, we had no water as the system required electric pumps to get it up the hill. To flush the toilet we had to fetch buckets of water from the swimming pool and use bottled water for drinking. Our power eventually came back on at about 1.00 am but we heard later that there had been much looting and a state of emergencey had been declared. Interesting times. A taste of a Doomsday Scenario and proof that we are not prepared!!

Power back on in Malaga but not Fuengirola.