There´s something about Mijas

I went up to Mijas-Pueblo yesterday for the first time in ages. Although I live only 15 minutes away, it´s one of those places that I visited a lot many years ago, and sort of overdosed on. It seemed every time I had visitors from the UK, up to Mijas we would trek. My dad is over on holiday so we decided to go for a trip to the town and meet up with some friends who live there. One thing I do remember is that it always used to be a nightmare to park, and if you couldn´t squeeze in between the tourist coaches and the donkey taxis you would find yourself lost in one of those ever narrowing streets - hoping to God nobody opened their front door- as everybody breathed in in the car. Well the new public car park (apologies if it has been there a year or two for those who know better) is brilliant. Not that I would normally wax lyrical about a car park, but it was something of a revelation. A big P sign directs you down to the entrance before you get to the main square of the town with its impoverished donkeys, and you enter well below street level. Once parked, remember to take the lift up to floor 10 (not down as we did to start with - which caused dad to mutter some obscenities as he thought we were lost in some dark, Mijas basement). You then exit right beside the town hall and the main square, which was a relief to dad as he can´t walk as well as he used to (as in the nearest bar will do). The view from the adjacent viewing platform (in front of the church) was absolutely stunning, and we could even see the outline of Gibraltar off in the distance. We also strolled over to the Casa Museo, which is home to some fascinating machinery which was used to produce olive oil and wine during Spain´s pre-Franco days. A reconstruction of a secret room, built behind a wardrobe, where the ex-mayor of Mijas, Manuel Cortes Quero, hid for thirty years from Franco´s troops is also situated on the top floor of the museum, and his story is documented on the walls of the cell. After a couple of drinks and tapas around the square, we headed back to Mijas-Golf for a late lunch and a superb menu del dia at Hoyo 19. €12 per head included three courses each plus a bottle of wine, and dad remarked that the oxtail was the best he had eaten in Spain (not my cup of tea but he was impressed). I enjoyed eggs florentine and swordfish which was excellent. Mijas Pueblo, unlike many other villages on the Costa del Sol still exudes a certain charm, and has not been spoilt at all by mass construction. The history and whitewashed houses of the town contrast with the modern bars, restaurants and facilities. But somehow it seems to work. Often some of the best places to visit are on our doorstep, and now that the summer madness is over, I would definitely recommend a day at Mijas-Pueblo.