An Englishman in Andalucía

In Fuengirola he kept things simple: no pyrotechnics or hydraulic platforms; nothing to distract attention from the performance itself. The number of people on stage is also kept to an absolute minimum: guitar, drums and, at the centre of it all, the artist himself.

The former The Police frontman appeared wearing a headband microphone, his gaze fixed intently on the audience. At 74, he has nothing left to prove, but he did just that. He is living proof that a life dedicated to music, yoga, a healthy diet and exercise, rather than drugs and other excesses, pays off.

Sting took to the stage in Fuengirola looking lean, muscular and above all, with an excellent voice. Displaying enviable fitness, he performed a repertoire of nearly twenty songs with apparent ease during a two-hour set that went on without a break.

One song flowed seamlessly into the next. He barely interacted with the audience, beyond making it clear that pronouncing ‘Fuengirola’ meant deciphering a phonetic sound unfamiliar to him. "Fuengirola is a very difficult word for a Brit," he said. There was a "thank you" here and there and "I like Andalucía", but not much else.

The show included The Police’s greatest hits and some lesser-known tracks from Sting’s solo career. Sting opened the evening with Message in a Bottle. The opening bars were enough to get the audience on their feet.

'Fields of Gold' sounded magnificent without the dreadful bagpipes and it was a relief to note the absence of the harmonica – at least for this writer. Furthermore, the perpetually underrated Never Coming Home, which originally featured a rather bland rhythm section intended to imitate trip-hop was transformed into a masterpiece, with Sting introducing some changes that evoked a touch of jazz fusion.

It was not, therefore, simply an evening of nostalgia and singing along to Sting's greatest hits. Instead it was a journey through the nearly 50-year career of a man who appears not to have aged.

After an hour and a half of the concert, Sting initially left the stage. However, the Marenostrum audience had no intention of calling it a night just yet. A thunderous round of applause erupted and, shortly afterwards, he returned for an encore with Roxanne before bringing the show to a close with Fragile, accompanied only by his guitar and his voice. "Malaga, thank you," he said and left the stage to applause.

In Granada the concert started in the same way with Message in a Bottle during which he also demonstrated that his fingers are still just as nimble as his voice. Then came another classic, If I Ever Lose My Faith in You, Englishman in New York, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, followed by Fields of Gold and more.

The concert skilfully blended adrenaline and serenity and the singer kicked things up a gear with the reggae-rock-infused Can’t Stand Losing You, before easing off the pace with the equally cinematic and acoustic Shape of My Heart. Like in Fuengirola there was a double encore featuring Roxanne and Fragile before the singer left the stage to rapturous applause.