Stepping out for grey power - Carvajal Spain

20 SUR IN ENGLISH OCTOBER 2ND TO 8TH 2009
News Tourism
El Borge rewards tourist
who brought 5,000 more
At the recent Día
de la Pasa
Dutchman Rob Van
der Eng received an
award for his role
in the promotion
of the village
AGUSTÍN PELÁEZ
“When I first came to El Borge in
1999 there wasn’t a single tourist.
You could probably say I was the
first. I rented a room here and I
loved it”. This is how Rob Van der
Eng recalls the beginnings of his
relationship with the Axarquía village
of El Borge, known for its raisins,
which has just given him a special
award in recognition of his
promotion of the area. Since his
first visit he has brought some 5,000
Dutch and Belgian tourists to El
Borge through his website that
rents out houses in the village.
According to the mayor, José Antonio
Ponce, this is a great feat in
a municipality with barely a thou-
AWARD. REMEDIOS ALBA GIVES THE EL BORGE PRIZE TO ROB VAN DER ENG. SUR
sand inhabitants and just one small
municipal hotel with six rooms.
Through his Amsterdam-based
agency (www.vakantiemalaga.nl)
Van der Eng manages the rentals
of some seventy houses in El Borge
and the surrounding area. He explains
how it all came about:
“I bought a house in the village.
I hadn’t planned on renting it out
but in the end I did and it was a
great success. It ended up being oc-
cupied all year round. Then some
neighbours started to offer me their
houses to rent to tourists for them.
That was how I started out as a
tourism entrepreneur”.
Rob added that while this type of
village accommodation is more attractive
to many tourists, the small
municipalities in the Axarquía
should learn how to offer tourist
services. “In Holland we say that
the client is king”, he explained.
Developer plans
Spain’s first flats for
senior homosexuals
The building is aimed at the over
55s and includes a day centre
FRANCISCO JIMÉNEZ
At first glance they just look like
the plans for another typical Costa
del Sol apartment block. However
a closer look reveals that there is
nothing traditional about it. The
building is to be called Arco Iris
(Rainbow) and it is the first real
estate project in Spain that is
aimed at LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender) clients,
with an added condition: residents
must be over 55 as the development
will also take on the role of
a care centre.
The building will be located in
the centre of Torremolinos, a
town that has become a favourite
holiday resort for homosexuals.
This has given rise to the opening
of numerous gay-orientated businesses
from clothes shops to bars
and restaurants, although nearly
always geared towards a younger
clientele.
“You would think that all homosexuals
are young, beautiful
and healthy, but we get old too”,
says Antonio Gutiérrez, a veteran
gay rights activist who hopes that
projects such as this one “will help
find a solution for the human dramas
suffered by older homosexuals
who often have a limited family
environment to fall back on”.
“Loneliness is one of their
greatest concerns, but many homosexuals
we have spoken to believe
that moving into a traditional
home for the elderly would
be like going back to the closet”,
explains Íñigo Armengod, director
general of Grupo Imnova, the
firm promoting the scheme.
The building will have 27 apartments
with comforts and services
such as cleaners, a social club, a
nursing care, and even care for
pets, although the main attraction
will be a day centre which will be
open to residents as well as the
general public.
The apartments will range between
100,000 and 240,000 in price
but as yet no date has been set for
construction work to start, possibly
after next summer.