A week long trip in late September would be my final visit to Spain of last year and also the final time that I’d be visiting my parents whilst they were living and working in the Costa Del Sol.
During my four previous visits to the region I’d managed to visit plenty of new places, numerous tourist attractions, football grounds, a rock festival and of course, lots of beaches. I’d achieved nearly everything I had wanted to when I left Malaga the last time in June, which meant that planning for my autumn break centred around a trip to a popular tourist town along with wanting to take in football matches at two venues I was unable to visit on my prior holidays.
When visiting Spain to watch football, be sure to keep a close eye on the usual kick-off day and time for any clubs you’re intending to see, since these can vary between leagues and regional league fixtures don’t get confirmed until a week before the game. Luckily I had done my homework and was able to find a potential double header incorporating both clubs that I was yet to visit. The ability to be flexible with your plans is always a good idea and it paid off for me.
After landing in Malaga on Wednesday evening, I had planned out three days of my stay, with the rest being left open for relaxing, walking and spending time with my family. Our first planned trip was to visit the tourist hotspot of Ronda. It’s a pretty little town, a regular stop-off point on the Malaga to Seville bus route and boasts the Puente Nuevo Bridge as it’s main attraction along with fantastic views over the Guadiaro and Genal valleys.
Arriving late morning after a very winding coach ride from San Pedro, we took our time to gaze from the various viewing platforms, before walking down to see the bridge in all its glory and ambling around the old town with its Moorish fortifications. Walking away from the town centre, we decided to have some lunch (a good decision as it can be expensive here) and look into some of the wonderful craft shops. Sight-seeing completed, our attention turned to the second reason for our visit, a football match. Sixth tier (effectively the Malaga Region Premier League) CD Ronda were playing at 5pm which gave us plenty of time to explore before the game and allowed us to get the last bus back to my parent’s home.
The walk from the centre to the ground took around twenty-five minutes, I only had limited directions for how to get there, but as we walked along the main roads heading out of the town it was sign posted. Ronda’s “Cuidad Deportivo” (Sports Centre) is on the edge of the town in a largely residential area, where we had hoped to find a shop to re-stock on water but to no avail. Once at the ground we paid our 5€ admission (typical for that level), bought drinks in the concourse and walked out to view the pitch. Only the large main stand was open, which I though was quite impressive for their level of football and thankfully it was covered to keep the blazing sun off us. A second stand, comprising of uncovered seating, was located on the opposite side and a running track circled around the pitch, overall, it reminded me of the Victoria Stadium in Gibraltar that I’d visited six months earlier, albeit with a very different backdrop. That’s not to say that Ronda’s backdrop wasn’t as good, as it had some fantastic views.
The match itself began at a frantic pace which saw three goals scored within the first seventeen minutes, Ronda were leading 2-1 against their visitors CD Cártama, from a small town close to Malaga, with a wonderful long-range strike making the difference. The home team probably should have been leading by more as they dominated possession and chances, but at half time the scoreline remained the same.
I have to admit that the standard of football wasn’t the best, there was a tough physical battle which was unlike many games I’d seen in Spain, but the pace of the game was generally slow even if some of the players seemed quite good technically. In the second half Ronda seemed quite happy with their one goal lead, choosing to play cautiously with Cártama always looking to counter. The only action after the interval came at the very end of the game, when in the 2nd minute of added time the visitors equalised to snatch a point. We wandered back to the bus station and made our journey home along the constant twists and turns of the road, the only comfort was listening to Radio Gibraltar which played an entirely Genesis hits show.
Sunday arrived and my planning had come to fruition, with a double header of CD Estepona (5th tier) and RB Linense (3rd tier) being able to watch. This was as I anticipated, with Estepona typically kicking off at 12pm, Linense between 5pm & 7pm and a semi-regular hour-long bus journey in between. The only downside to the kick off being later than 5pm at Linense would be that we’d miss the final bus back from La Linea (The Line), which was the case when it was announced as a 6pm kick off. The negative quickly became a positive when we opted to book a cheap hotel close to the football ground in La Linea and walk over the border to visit Gibraltar the day after (I fully recommend doing so) before heading back on Monday evening.
It seemed like a perfect plan but it almost went wrong at the very start, whilst we were en-route to Estepona the bus broke down, seemingly with a gearbox issue. After a considerable amount of time we were able to get going again, the driver eventually coasted to the bus station, luckily we had caught an earlier bus than intended so still had time to spare.
Estepona’s ground is very well appointed for their current level, even for the Tercera Division where they’ve been previously (as Union Estepona) it’d still be one of the best grounds to visit. It’s three-sided but all-seater, with the only cover being over the main stand. At the top of it you’ll find a concourse area, with a nice bar that did a good trade on a sunny afternoon. Looking over to the far side you get a great view of the hills in the distance and there’s plenty of greenery surrounding the ground. My Dad has visited numerous times and always loves the scenery.
This game was much better than the previous day’s offering and the best of the weekend in fact. It was very intense throughout, both teams worked hard and played a lot of attractive football, making it well worthy of the 5€ admission. As the first half was coming to a close Estepona began to dominate possession and chances, on the 44th minute Striker José Boga evaded the offside trap to be in on goal, only to be taken out by a recovering defender, but whilst the Estepona fans went wild calling for a penalty, Boga was somehow able to direct the ball past the goalkeeper and into the net to take the lead!
The second half had plenty of action as well, away side Celtic Pulianas began to lose their concentration and a rash challenge near the half way line saw them reduced to ten men with half an hour still to play. This caused the usual fracas that I’ve come to expect from Spanish games, leaving multiple players on a booking. Celtic’s chances got worse when they were reduced to nine after a second bookable offence, but even so it remained a competitive and intense game. Estepona worked their chances well and were rewarded with three further goals in the last twenty minutes of the game, the highlight being a wonderful through-ball enabling Wojcik to round the goalkeeper for a tap-in, leaving the large number of home fans going home happy to bask in the glorious sunshine. For us though it was time to get a meal before catching the bus onwards to La Linea.
Arriving into the bus station one hour prior to kick off, we walked to the hotel to drop off our bags before making the short journey to Linense’s “Estadio Municipal” (community stadium). RB Linense are a historic club, their ground has even hosted Spanish International matches, but to many they’re known for being on the border with Gibraltar with a spectacular view of the famous rock behind the one goal. The ground is old fashioned to say the least, but I loved it. The main stand’s roof has been taken down for health and safety reasons leaving the ground with no cover, but that wasn’t a problem on our visit. We paid our 10€ admission (very reasonable considering these are professional teams) and took a seat on a concrete bench with the beach behind us. As soon as you walk out beside the pitch the view takes you back and I actually preferred the view from here than Gibraltar’s Victoria Stadium, being further away makes you appreciate the formidable size of “The Rock”.
Unfortunately, the game didn’t live up to the surroundings, Spain’s Segunda B Divisions are known for having low scoring games and this was one of them. Both teams played attractive, passing football but with no real end product. Set pieces seemed to be the key to attacking play but the first half fizzled away without troubling the score boards. Both of these teams were in the running for the play-offs at the time in Group 4 of the four regionalised 3rd tier leagues. The second half started brightly, visitors FC Cartagena took the lead in the 47th minute and we hoped this would bring more spark into the game but it certainly didn’t. Cartagena were content with a 1-0 score-line and Linense could only muster a couple of half-chances in return. The rest of the game petered out with a solitary goal victory for the team from Murcia. I took some post-match photos before we had a wander around La Linea at night and found it to be busy with an array of bars and restaurants open until late.
The following morning, we gathered our bags and went for a stroll along the beach, eventually making our way to the Gibraltar border. After walking across the airport’s runway, our plan was to amble through the main town and continue to Gibraltar’s most southerly tip, before heading back up the coast to the border crossing. This proved to be longer and tougher than I imagined, with a number of inclines and roads not being pedestrian friendly, but we soon found ourselves standing at Europa Point where the clear skies meant that you could see out to Morocco. This will also be the location of the new international football stadium and there was plenty of building work taking place during our trip, the site certainly gives room for a bigger, more equipped stadium with the only downside being there’s very little in its vicinity. I’d love to go back to watch a game there once it’s complete.
The return leg of the journey following the coast was a lot easier than our first route and by this time we’d worked up quite an appetite, so we diverted towards the centre for a meal before making the crossing back into Spain (via some duty-free shopping) and catching an early evening bus back to my parent’s apartment.
Overall, it’d been a long but very enjoyable weekend!
The final days before my flight home were spent sunbathing and relaxing, as I wanted to make the most of being in the glorious Spanish sunshine for a final time. It’d been a great adventure for all of my family and one that we all thoroughly enjoyed.
That marks the end of my ‘Andalusian Adventures’, I’d visited Spain five times over the year, watched football matches at nine different grounds (including in Gibraltar), visited many fantastic places and made memories to last a lifetime.
(Mementos from watching & supporting my chosen Spanish club, Marbella FC)
Chris Sharp
The Travelling Therapist 
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