I think the programme starts at 9pm UK time and it may be a 3 episode programme.
Not what Marbella, P. Banus, Costa del Sol, or Spain wants at present but lets hope it exposes more crooks and their dealings there whether in property or otherwise. 😉
A real let down programme, it didn’t tell us anything we didn’t know already, ostentatious bling, crime, people watching, lads and ladettes etc.
Interestingly I thought how well Piers Morgan fitted in there with his borrowed white ferarri, full of his own self importance and with his dodgy share dealings whilst Editor of the Mirror (for which he escaped imprisonment), he just laps up all the girlies and who’s who crims and show biz ‘B’ rated celebs. Ouch! 😆
I thought it was pretty harmelss really! Here is no different to anywhere in the world, there is crime everywhere – at least here you dont get threatened by gangs of feral 10 year olds – like I did 16 years ago in the UK (one of the reasons I moved here!).
It was pretty harmless Inez but it showed the ‘ferrals’ are somewhat older on the Costa del Sol and sometimes resort to gassing their victims before robbing them. Quite a common problem on some developments and the finger was pointed at Eastern Europeans. 😉
Hi Angie, yes I know what you are saying but that was a few years ago. I dont deny at all there is crime and petty crime is on the increase but not violent robbings (though it does happen) and its very rarely the Spanish, interestingly enough!
A real let down programme, it didn’t tell us anything we didn’t know already, ostentatious bling, crime, people watching, lads and ladettes etc.
Quote:
I said to someone yesterday Angie that I had visions of you sitting there rubbing your hands with glee that someone might be giving the coast a mighty good kicking… and what happened…?
Well if you ask me Marbella looked absolutely amazing, in fact gloriously stunning, and so it is.
You can take everywhere else in Spain and it knocks it into a cocked hat!
And there was a real mixture of souls on there, pity he didn’t show the people doing the school run or operating small businesses etc but it wasn’t about that, and at least he had the chutzpah to be amazed at how the whole place didn’t fit the image he had (and that you give off) about Marbella before he came here to do the programme.
It isn’t for everyone, and I can also imagine Floshmichael going into shock spasm at rents of €20,000 A DAY, yep Flosmichael, what price buying now!
But seriously, I talk Marbella up, I talk about the 300,000 Brits who own here and love it here, and the airport and other new infrastructure, and you guys talk property bust and gloom, it is all fair in love and war, but the real winner in the program was the stunning visual aspect of just how gorgeous Marbella looks and is, so much for your overbuild.
Now if that don’t ignite this thread I don’t know what will…!
My only comment having been able to see the prog. was how I wish I had the 50 odd million to have a decent villa in a guard-secure development, with the uninterrupted views that go with such a place, the boat in the Marina etc etc. (though wouldn’t have fizzed a 1000+euro bottle of champagne all over the beach no matter how much money I had – would prefer to drink it. What dafties!)
A different level of living was shown compared to us mere mortals – and anywhere can be ‘absolutely amazing’ when you’re living like that.
Personally I would like to have seen more of Andalucia rather than just how the other half live.
It isn’t for everyone, and I can also imagine Floshmichael going into shock spasm at rents of €20,000 A DAY, yep Flosmichael, what price buying now!
…!
I am sure that “successful” estate agents like you can afford to stay at that rate. 🙄
Well I’ve lived in Marbella for a number of years and I thought the programme was reasonably accurate and painted a reasonably good picture of Marbella.
This place is unique. Not for everyone but unique.
There is no doubt there is a lot of money here. More 5 star hotels, more boutique shops, fancy restaurants, fast cars and huge villas than most places. In Europe there are very few places that can compete for the holiday and lifestyle business of the rich. The South of France is one obvious competitor but then it does not have the year round weather.
It’s also true that the South of France (which I love by the way) does not have the tacky, downmarket, larger lout element that the CDS does. And that, for me, is the beuty of the place! I enjoy eating in good restaurants (which is hard to do in say Benidorm) but then I also enjoy a boozy afternoon watching the football in a bar with Sky sports (which is hard to do in St Tropez).
I play golf here and I can honestly say that since moving here I have played with the most diverse bunch of people ever. From self made multi millionaires, to dodgy wide boys, to retired people (very wealthy to not so wealthy) to normal respectable family people.
Maybe that is the problem with the place – anybody who does not like trashy, Brit bar type places can knock the CDS and anybody who does not like 5 star luxury can also knock it.
As for crime, as people have previously said, crime is everywhere. I am sure there are multi millionaires in Mayfair having their houses broken into and I am sure there are petty criminals everywhere. The programme mentioned a few shootings in a dodgy bar in Nueva Andalucia but then there have been shootings in Manchester and London and I don’t hear people saying don’t live in those places. When we first moved here we had a problem with a few youths (stolen handbag) but since then I can hoenstly say I feel safe here. Of course, with the sunshine and big villas etc I am sure there are some very hardened criminals lurking but I have not come across them and they don’t seem to be a problem.
Anyway, as I say, Marbella is unique and I love it. Yes room for improvement in a lot of areas but I would not live anywhere elese.
It’s the ‘larger louts’ I don’t like (or the smaller ones either).
I did, however, enjoy Piers Morgan’s introduction to the Euesdens, owners of Euro Weekly News: ‘Michel and Steven Euesden (…) they came here with next to nothing: started an expat newspaper from scratch…’. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wunnoR_MwyU&feature=related(Minute 4.24).
Quite!
Sorry Mark but I don’t have a link to the programme.
Chris, you know what I think then of Marbella and P.Banus, Tacky!!!
Walk the streets of Marbella and all is pretty quiet now, dog poo still abounds away from the main drag, even in Old Town, many buildings need revamping and Banus doesn’t have the quality or charm it once had, way too many posers, prostitutes and trannies, but then that and the high prices might suit many people.
Much nicer and classier places on the South of France, Italy, Costa Brava etc but this is my opinion only, more refined frankly my dear 😆
The bit I didn’t like was where it showed the champagne party with “I’m living of the back of Gazza’s name” Biance Gascoigne. I’n a time when most people are struggling to pay their bills you’ve got these idiots spraying 1,000 euro bottles of champagne around like it’s water. I thought it was vulgar and did the place no favours at all.
Nikki beach is only a small part of marbella life (only open for about 4 months of the year anyway). We last visited about two years ago and a spanish group took exception to being sprayed (they were in jackets and ties!) as for 1000 euro champagne…don’t make me laugh, mostly cava and the odd bottle of Moet.
Gazzas stepdaughter hasn’t two euro to rub together…flown out to find something to sensationalise the programme, complete basura 🙄
Apart from more reliable Winter sun, many of the coastal towns and marinas in the South of France, Italy, Northern Spain, and Malaga too etc leave Marbella and Puerto Banus in the shade for class and ambience.
Why do all the crooks head for Marbella, because it’s big enough to lose themselves and they can still operate with impunity whilst associating with many similar types?
The only person who spoke with sense on the programme was Max Clifford, talking about cleaning it’s image up. Chris McCarthy loves it because it has earnt him plenty of dough and probably will continue to do so, but Harrogate a Spa Town, where he seems to return to is a classier option albeit colder.
Well I love it here and I certainly have not made a fortune out of Marbella. Quite the opposite, I’d be far better off in the UK but I love living in Marbella.
Max Clifford did say he would clean it up a bit if he was in charge and so would I. It’s not perfect but like me, Max obviously still likes it enough to have a house here and spend time here.
My mate who I just had a coffee with on the paseo loves it here.
Everybody that I am playing golf tomorrow with loves it here.
My family love it here.
I think that’s fair – I love it here (in Spain) too.
It’s just… programs like that seem to be about a life in exile. Britons out of their natural element and somehow living in a shallow apology for a real life. They know nothing (it would appear from these programs) of Spain (ah yus – ah think corruptions a good thing – that Hasoos Heel was a good lad really. Like. You knor.). No culture, history, art, civilization, geography, politics, society, language or even elementary respect for Spain.
This shallow embarrassment of a show may be a ‘hoot’ or it may have made you cringe, but – Mama Mía – I’m glad I wasn’t featured on it!
Max is rarely in Marbella now, mostly Barbados and Surrey. He is a nice guy and does a lot of work for Surrey charities. Those programmes do seem to want to show the very crass side of Marbella life, there are a lot of nice normal people live there too!
Chris McCarthy loves it because it has earnt him plenty of dough and probably will continue to do so, but Harrogate a Spa Town, where he seems to return to is a classier option albeit colder.
For the record CM hasn’t made any money for at least 3 years, and actually lost plenty, but has lived in Marbella for 20 years earning an honest crust yes, good times and bad, so no regrets or complaints there.
And like Man in Marbella played golf here yesterday with people who also love it here, and agrees with Katy, but would expand further to say there are literally tens of thousands of nice normal people who live here also.
Off back to chilly Harrogate at the weekend though, not so much classier – just a different world – could be said to be having the best of both worlds really. Though won’t be golfing or dining al fresco in Harrogate for at least 6 months yet.
All the other locations mentioned by Paul I also agree have a class and an ambience, but just don’t compare for golf, size, infrastructure, and many other elements that Marbella offers to such a diverse amount and type of people, that are found here and that want to come here.
Different strokes for different folks, so why beat up on Marbella so much really?
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