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WHIRLWIND tour take you far and of Manilva will population. wide in just a few square kilometres. In spite of these You might start by gazing out at high numbers, luxury yachts bobbing by the glitzy port, Manilva is not or the glistening simply an expat sea along a peaceful beach trail. colony - not at And then minutes all. later you could yourself among rolling green hills find The district has lated by luxury villas, popuor burgeoning vine- a strong and yards around a whitewashed thriving Spanvillage. And on your journey ish culture doscope of people you will meet a kalei- community and that each with a story from all walks of life, lives extremely Manilva officially to tell. harm centage of Brits has the highest per- and o n i o u s l y on the padron in very with between a third Spain, dially with corand their a quarter 18,000-strong municipality of the foreign FIESTA FEVER: Spanish guests. hailing from The Blighty. locals show off their locals and the Sevillanas dance But it’s not just foreigners mix skills and mingle in the halting Spanglish. same bars residents, many Brits - foreign, settled restaurants from northern Europeand the pitter patterand “We come here for the an countries, make sangria,” Londoner of Richie tells up 42% of Manilva’s conversation dances between the Olive Press glish and Spanish Enin the shade - and very often Continues on next
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The long-demanded costa train may finally be becoming a reality – and with it a stop just across the border in La Linea SPAIN’S fabled costa train from Nerja to Algeciras is starting to become a more concrete reality – and it may come to Gibraltar. Long considered another wishful infrastructure pipe dream, La Linea Mayor Juan Franco has been campaigning to get a stop included in his own town as the project finally takes shape. Madrid has stated that La Linea will only qualify for a stop on the line if there’s ‘enough demand’, with Franco quick to point out that ‘between the two towns we have a population of over 100,000 residents’. While still at a preliminary stage, the railway is envisioned to have six stops: Nerja (22,000 residents), Malaga (580,000), Fuengirola (85,000), Marbella (160,000), Estepona (70,000) and Algeciras (120,000). As such, a stop in La Linea would serve more people than half of those – if the Spanish authorities are willing to include the population of Gibraltar in their weighting. But how might a train line just across the border impact Gibraltar? “While clearly a Span-
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ish undertaking, such a train line would be a fantastic opportunity for the Rock,” Eran Shay of the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses (bottom left) told the Olive Press. “There are a number of ways it would benefit our economy, not just in speeding up supply chains and wait times but boosting exports. “On top of that, the increased mobility on the Spanish side of the border would expand the range employers in Gibraltar would have to hire workers, making it more attractive for both.”
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Shay, who is also Managing Director of Benefit Business Solutions, suggests the authorities could put on a shuttle bus from the station to the border, further easing the ALGECIRAS way for commuters, shoppers and tourists to come to Gibraltar. The leg between Estepona and Algeciras is forecast to see up to 4.9 million passengers yearly, with potentially 1.5 million stopping in La Linea – or 4,110 a day. nomic impact of the train without At an estimated cost of €10 mil- knowing more about train numlion to €20 million per kilometre bers and times, the proportion of to build, the final outlay to cover passenger to freight, et cetera,” the 50km train line could come to Shay continued. between €500 million to €1 billion. “But I really cannot see any negaSome estimates have predicted tives impacts for Gibraltar.” Gibraltar could see €50 to €100 With around four out of every five million in indirect economic gains of the 1.2 million tourists who visit plus a further 500 to 1,000 new the Rock annually entering from jobs, but at this juncture these are Spain, the boost to tourism from a little more than guesses. train to La Linea – or even Algeci“It's difficult to quantify the eco- ras – is obvious.
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CHOO-CHOO:A train to La Linea could deliver jobs and growth to Gibraltar
“If you've got a mass transit system that can bring people down down from the coast cheaper and faster than the current options, that could be very advantageous to Gibraltar, and La Linea,” Edward Macquistan of the Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce noted to this newspaper. But might the station be positioned inconveniently far from the Gibraltar border? “For them to claim it’s a La Linea stop I think it would have to be
GIBRALTAR Squadron exercises around the Rock last week reignited the eternal diplomatic charade with Spain over sovereignty of the waters. Six vessels, including HMS Dagger, took part in ‘interoperability’ operations that started in the Inner Harbour and moved around to the eastern side. At all times the unit remained within the three nautical miles claimed as British Gibraltar Territorial Waters (BGTW). While the drills were hailed a success by commanding officer Lt Cdr Davies, it was viewed differently in Spain. The Spanish Foreign Ministry lodged a diplomatic protest with the UK for ‘violating Spanish sovereignty’ and urged the parties to avoid ‘future incursions in the area’. Which will be unlikely as such exercises are set to be a monthly event. The formal complaint was just one of half a dozen issued by both Spain and the UK in the last year alone.
somewhere in the centre of the town and there’s plenty of space, depending on the route they take,” Macquistan argued. “If you look at the history, wherever a railway is built you have more people who can get to and from their place of work without having to use either personal transport, that's got to be beneficial for jobs.” Even the environmental lobby would be in favour, seeing as the train would cut the number of cars on the already-over-clogged coastal roads in Malaga and Cadiz. “I think most people would support it,” Macquistan concluded. “The only problem I can see is that there will be a very long fuse on the project.”
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He warned not to expect it within the next 10 years. The project is still in the feasibility stage with funding yet to be secured, and the leg to Algeciras will likely be the last phase to start construction. Despite these funding issues, there is clear demand for the overall project, which is likely to see 60 million annual trips and unlock huge economic benefits. Coupled with an eventual treaty with Spain and the EU, a train line to La Linea could be transformational for Gibraltar in the long term.
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Peter Whitham
www.theolivepress.es
MARCH 2025
Laid back Manilva is where genuine Spanish culture mingles with expat communities, writes Walter Finch
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From vineyards to fishermen, mountain hikes to seaside fun, Manilva has it all. See page 7
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