Farewell Thoughts

Nine years has seen many changes in Frigiliana, including new apartment blocks and a consequent small increase in population. The previous administration at the town hall put a great deal of effort into promoting the cultural heritage of the village, as well as ensuring that the beauty of our village is promoted nationally and more widely bringing increased tourism revenue to the community. At the moment an extensive program me of work is under way to improve the visual appeal of what I might call the old part of the new village, especially renewing and improving worn out, pot holed road surfaces, but also taking the opportunity of upgrading upgrading infrastructure - electricity and water supplies, drainage and sewerage. Telefonica, the Spanish equivalent of BT, has also brought the benefits of fibre optic telephony to the community.

Over and above all this, the completion of the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in 2008 is now rapidly coming to full fruition. After a painfully slow start following the financial crash of that same year, almost all the ground level units have been fitted out and contribute more restaurants to the already impressive total. Indeed, few if any villages in the area can offer such a wide, high quality selection. You can eat traditional and contemporary Spanish food, including food typical of other regions of Spain, especially northern Spain. But even more varied is the range of international cuisine - Polish, Italian, Indian as well as Asian/Japanese, North African/Middle Eastern and Street food from around the world, especially Mexican. Nor are these simply local franchises of branded chains, but the inspiration of a number of talented and passionate chef-proprietors.

So my parting gift to all those inspired to visit (or better still, make their home in) Frigiliana is the prospect of lots of good eating all at very reasonable prices. I fear that my wife and I will be eating out much less frequently on our return to England. But then again, I'm a keen home cook, so that's not all bad news.

Thank you for following my ramblings over the years. Watch this space; shortly I'll post a link to my new blog, whatever that turns out to be.