A chiringuito and shop is to be built on the famous Mónsul beach in the Cabo de Gata

The regional government has authorised the installation of a beach bar (chiringuito) and shop on the iconic virgin beach of Mónsul, deep within the Cabo de Gata nature park. But ecologists, residents and the local council are all opposed to the plan, which was never put out to consultation. The beach is one of the most unspoilt coastal areas in this region of Spain. The Mayor of Níjar, Esperanza Pérez, spoke out against the plan, Continue reading A chiringuito and shop is to be built on the famous Mónsul beach in the Cabo de Gata

40 beach bars request permission to open for the summer season

The Junta is currently deciding the fate of 40 chiringuitos (beach bars) across Almería who want to open this year. Of the 40, 8 are new ones that didn’t exist last year. There are currently 70 beach bars installed on beaches across Almería; if the eight new ones are approved, we’ll have 78. 22 of them haven’t bothered to reopen this year; the other 12 have already got their permits. All of which is a Continue reading 40 beach bars request permission to open for the summer season

Beach bars will be legal again! New ley de costas to be approved

The new ley de Costas will allow chiringuitos to be legal again. They were banned some years ago, before la crisis , causing the crisis to be even worse than it worse by removing one of Spains main tourist attractions. The new law will allow beach bars to be installed on rural beaches as long as they are “temporary” (ie, removed at the end of the season) and no larger than 20 square metres, plus Continue reading Beach bars will be legal again! New ley de costas to be approved

The El Ejido chiringuito experiment – yep, it was a failure (as we all said all along)

A few years ago, when Spain was rolling in money, politicians were getting rich and builders even richer off the wealth of the happy foresteros flocking in from the UK and Germany, and it seemed as if the good times would never end, Spain decided to try out a law that had been on the statue books for two decades but never implemented, the Ley de Costas. This basically meant that the only reason people Continue reading The El Ejido chiringuito experiment – yep, it was a failure (as we all said all along)

Neptuno beach bar, Mojacar Playa

June 2010 – A more modern review has been posted here: Neptuno Beach Bar, Mojacar Playa. It’s the 16th of November 2009 and at midday it was around 26ºC. Perfect weather for a paella on the beach. Let’s be honest. The weather is perfect. No wind. No clouds. The sea is so calm that even I, with my chronic sea sickness, would consider venturing out in it. If it were not for the incompetence of Continue reading Neptuno beach bar, Mojacar Playa

Turismo promises to protect the Chiringuito (before admitting he can’t)

The Minister for Tourism, Industry & Commerce of the Junta de Andalucia, Mr Luciano Alonso, stood up in the Regional Parliment yesterday to reply to concerns that the Junta is “anti” chiringuito (beach bars). He admitted that while many of them were disappearing from our coasts, they “were an integral part of singular form of tourism practised in Andalucia” and that Tuismo was determined to preserve them “within confines of the law, respect of the Continue reading Turismo promises to protect the Chiringuito (before admitting he can’t)