A relationship with Spain beyond the medal

Sir Steve Redgrave CBE might be one of the most well-known sport personalities in British sporting history; he won five gold medals for rowing at five consecutive Olympic Games, along with nine World Championships, three Commonwealth Games gold medals and 20 Henley Royal Regatta titles. However, when he and his wife Ann, who is also an Olympic rower and the current doctor for the Great Britain Rowing team, come to their holiday home in Benajarafe, they like nothing more than to take time out of a busy schedule, blend in with the locals and adopt the Spanish habit of daily siestas.

Steve's connection with Spain goes back to his childhood, although he admits he doesn't actually remember the caravan holidays his family enjoyed, instead they remain in the Redgraves' collective memory thanks to his older sisters, Jane and Christine, who are five and nine years older than Steve respectively.

Steve, now 64, recalls: “In the '60s dad bought a caravan and we used to come down to Spain. My sisters talk to me like I remember it. I have no recollection at all. They were at an age that they could remember, but it's there for me because it's always being talked about.” Steve explains that his dad had been in the Merchant Navy and “loved travelling”. In fact he himself lived in Spain for 10 years.

Later, when Steve was rowing as an Olympic athlete and Barcelona was awarded the 1992 games, he and his team would come to the town of Banyoles in Catalonia to train. “We started to go out there every year. You get roughly six to seven build up years before the Olympics. It was a nice place to go in February and March when it was still cold and miserable in the UK,” he admits.

In fact, Steve and his rowing team mates Andy Holmes, Matt Pinsent, Mike Spracklen and Pat Sweeney got quite a following in the town as they had become well-known over the years thanks to their visits in the lead up to Barcelona '92. Steve would go on to win his third Olympic gold medal in the men's coxless pairs with his rowing partner Matthew Pinsent in those Olympics.

Also in 1992 Seville held its World Expo and the CEAR de Remo y Piragüismo La Cartuja (specialised high-performance centre) rowing venue was built specifically for it. Steve and his team were invited to race there to promote the centre and the Expo, which led to regular trips to the city for training. Steve admits that the appeal was that “the weather was even better there” in the winter months than in the north of Spain.

Then there's a much more personal connection with Malaga and especially the Axarquía. Steve's family has a strong connection to the Malaga-based British author Joan Fallon through rowing. In fact Joan, and Steve's mum, who passed away earlier this year, were very good friends.

Furthermore, Joan is godmother to Steve and Ann's eldest daughter Natalie and when Joan and her late husband moved to Spain, the Redgraves, with their still very young three children, would come to visit once a year to see the Fallons.

One day, Steve explains, he was running from Joan's then house in Rincón de la Victoria along the paseo towards Benajarafe when he spotted a place he liked the look of with for sale signs. “By then we had three young children and Joan had suggested we look for a place of our own. I think it might have been her way of saying that having three youngsters around was getting a bit much,” Steve laughs.

The couple eventually bought one of the properties in the early 2000s and still have it today. Ann and Steve come over when Ann's busy schedule allows and their children, who are now grown up and have children of their own, also enjoy coming out.

Steve was still racing when they first started to visit and says that he enjoyed coming to the less well-known side of the Costa del Sol as he was less likely to be recognised than on the other more 'British' side.

The medalist does reveal that he gets recognised when he and Ann are out and about in the Axarquía, especially as he says they often do their supermarket shopping in the post-lunch lull, which we agree does seem to be British shopping hour.

“You get spotted wherever you travel, when you are supposed to be having family time people would come up for autographs, well nowadays it's selfies. It's not so common these days - I've got less hair than when I was competing, but if you think of the age of a lot of people who are out here, they are of an age that they remember me. Sometimes I get some funny looks, but people don't always put two and two together,” Steve says.

Having been coming to the Axarquía since the 1990s, Steve has noticed a real change in the area and witnessed how popular it has become, especially out of the traditional tourism months. During a visit in September Steve remarked how busy Benajarafe was, “Normally it's quieter after the Spanish holidays end,” he said.

When they are here it is a rare opportunity for Ann to chill and switch off. For Steve, who describes himself as “semi-retired” - he works as a motivational speaker and brand ambassador - it is a chance to play “lots of bad golf”. They like to go out to local restaurants and Ann in particular enjoys the fish restaurants.

With the traditional Jábega rowing boats a regular sight off the coast of Malaga, Steve says that while he enjoys watching them, he's never been tempted to swap lakes for the sea and have a go: “I wouldn't like to be rowing something as a big and heavy as they use,” he says, revealing, “I don't row anymore anyway!”