AFTER a two-year absence, Torrox's huge Christmas fête will be back on the streets over the December bank holiday week – meaning residents and visitors can still do some festive shopping even when everywhere is shut.
Festive snow-globes on a stall at Torrox Christmas market (photo from the blog MálagaWeb.com)
Good news for the workforce, but inconvenient for consumers, this year's Constitution Day (December 6) and Day of the Immaculate Conception (December 8) fall on a Monday and a Wednesday – and many employees who are able to do so will take Tuesday, December 7 as annual leave, giving them a full five days to get away for a pre-Christmas break.
To this end, anyone outside Torrox (Málaga province) who is hoping to get to the fayre should allow plenty of extra time, as traffic is likely to be heavy nationwide in coastal and countryside directions and, on the Wednesday night, heading away from the coast towards larger inland cities.
Unless you live in a big city, you are likely to find your local supermarkets and smaller shops shut on both days, so you should make sure you stock up the fridge on Saturday, December 4 and again on Tuesday, December 7 – or check online whether a store near you is operating at reduced hours.
Given that there are only 17 days between the Immaculate Conception of Jesus Christ and his birth on December 25, leaving very little time to buy gifts for family and friends to celebrate the Messiah's coming, Torrox's traditional festive market is a great place to start ticking items off the list and beat the last-minute rush.
You'll find the stalls on the Avenida Esperanto, next to the Torrox-Costa bus station – exactly where you found in it 2019 just before the pandemic alighted at the stop two months later and hogged the venue, blocking it from hosting the fayre in 2020.
A poster for an earlier, pre-pandemic edition of Torrox Christmas market (photo: Torrox town hall)
But the pandemic is still hovering around ready to spoil shoppers' fun if they give it half a chance, so mask-wearing will be compulsory for anyone popping along to soak up the Yuletide atmosphere.
Even though nine in 10 adults and teenagers are fully vaccinated in Spain, there is still a slim chance of becoming infected – luckily, a much slimmer chance of becoming seriously ill – and where a jabbed person tests positive with Covid, they have just as much likelihood of infecting others as if they had never had the injection.
Social distancing should be observed wherever possible, Torrox council warns.
Beautiful hand-crafted decorations in a Torrox Christmas market stand (photo: Blog.FuerteHoteles.com)
This year's fayre will be as close to 'normal' as can be expected, with a dozen or so stalls, plus live music and family activities from Friday, December 3 to Wednesday, December 8 inclusive, arts and handicrafts and gift items on sale, as well as a children's play area, and a culinary fête where visitors can try out typical food from all over Europe – authentic, too, given the town's hugely cosmopolitan demographic.
The restaurant area will be serving up traditional Christmas confectionery – mostly Spanish-style, but with different sweet treats from other parts of the continent thanks to the influence of the Costa del Sol town's expatriate population.
Once the market itself opens at 18.00 next Friday, the stands and activities will start daily from the Saturday onwards at noon, remaining open until late evening.
