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Shopping on the Costa del Sol has changed radically in the last ten years. It was a place where you bought flesh-coloured bras out of boxes stacked to the ceiling in poky Tardis-like shops run by matronly bespectacled ladies. For cleaning pr oducts, for both house and body you went to the "drogería", and for everything from plugs, nuts and bolts, mosquito netting, saucepans and small electrical appliances you called in at the "ferretería" (hardware store).
Buttons, wool and thread for those so inclined were to be found at the "mercería", while even such specialised goods as knives had their own store. As for fruit and veg, and eggs and herbs and honey, most self-respecting housewives bought theirs from "campesinos" (small-holders), selling their produce at the local weekly market. There were supermarkets, of course, but outside of the main cities, like Barcelona and Madrid, they were nothing to get excited about.
These specialist shops are still to be found in the small town high street, or tucked away in city side streets. Whereas in Northern Europe and North the jumble of the hardware store, smelling of sawdust and rubber and furniture polish, disappeared or gave way to squeaky clean DIY chains, in Spain ferreterías continue to thrive. You always have to queue in a good fereretería.
Village shops also show no sign of going the way of their British counterparts, i.e. closing down and being replaced by expensive antique shops that no-one ever seems to visit.
Nonetheless, the explosion of huge out-of-town shopping centres and hypermarkets in the last five years or so mean that the shopper can easily find everything under one roof if he or she wishes. Whether or not time and money are saved is a question we often ask ourselves, lost in the endless aisles, pushing a trolley with enough wares to open a small Tardis and ruin a small country.
Even the Ferreteria is under pressure from the out of town DIY store such as Leroy Merlin. These are particularly good for foreigners who with even good Spanish will never know the word for a masonary drill bit.
Shopping centres, or centros commerciales, comprise dozens of shops and services on various levels along with a multi-cine (cinema complex) and the usual fast-food outlets. The sun shines, it's a beautiful day, but these cathedrals of spending are always full. Some are well designed: light and airy with high glass ceilings, and with plants and art exhibitions others are full-on, shop-till-you-drop Meccas with blaring music, glaring lights and tunnel-like walkways.
- La Cañada - Marbella (at junction of Motorway and road to Ojen) Telephone: 952 866 134
- Larios Centre - Malaga near main bus and Railway Station.
- Marina Banus - Puerto Banus Telephone: 952 906 544
- Plaza Major - Malaga (near Airport, at junction of Motorway and Parador de golf) Telephone: 952 247 580
- Rincon Centro Comercial - Just off the motorway as you approach Rincón de la Victoria from Málaga. It is on your left.
- Rosaleda Centro Comercial - Malaga, take the Ciudad Jardín exit from the N-340 (direction Nerja) and follow the motorway until you see signs to La Rosaleda on the right.
Generally speaking, the newer the centre, the better the design and the facilities available. The three latest to be built in the Malaga area are the Ingenio, near Torre del Mar ; Rincon Centro Comercial (link) near Rincon de la Victoria; and Plaza Mayor , between the airport and Torremolinos. The latter has a bowling alley, two swimming pools, restaurants with terraces and a large children's play area. All have state-of-the-art cinemas.
For those wishing to find everything under one roof but who still prefer shopping in more traditional establishments, there is of course, that great Spanish institution: El Corte Ingls. After nine months in the bra-stacked shops of Santiago, I can still remember the thrill of my first visit to a Corte Inglés department store: so sophisticated, so Harrods meets Marks & Spencers, so expensive. A wedding-list sort of a store, with a customer service counter (still a rarity in Spain), easy credit and a great delivery service.
- The best place to buy fruit and veg, as well as hunt out bargain clothes and household goods, remains the local market. This sets up each day of the week (except Sunday) in a different town. Some towns and neighbourhoods also have their own regular covered market. Atarazanas, Malaga Central Market is absolutely not to be missed.
- The Spanish aren't really into second-hand goods, although where there are large expat populations and tourists this seems to be changing. Up and down the coast, antique markets-cum-car-boot sales held on Saturdays and Sundays are popular with tourists and locals alike.
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