What are people reading on Malaga province's beaches this summer?

In one of his best-known comedy routines, Malaga-born comedian Dani Rovira lists everything the average local family used to take to the beach in summer: the parasol, towels, the old portable radio, a ball, bags, an inflatable duck... and, above all, "the star item of every summer: the blue cool box with the blue lid and the white handle", packed with his mother's Tupperware.

Some things have changed, of course. Portable radios and Nivea beach balls have largely given way to smartphones. But Rovira could easily have added another beach essential to the list: a book.

Every summer brings the same question: what book should I take to the beach? Reading on a towel may be one of the season's least secret pleasures. Plenty of people do it, yet it rarely features in holiday anecdotes afterwards.

In one of his Patente de corso columns, Arturo Pérez-Reverte recalled reading biographies of Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald "on a beach where pelicans circled overhead while the most beautiful women in the world emerged from the sea against the red glow of sunset". He never said whether he finished either biography.

To find out what people will be reading this summer, we put on our sunglasses and, like Martin Brody in Jaws, head to Malaga's beaches to scan the horizon in search of another voracious predator: the reader.

A good place to begin is Librería Diego, just 650 metres from the Bil-Bil beach in Benalmádena. The shop sells newspapers from Spain and abroad, offers photocopying, stocks gifts and sweets, but true to its name, its walls are lined with the latest books alongside revolving stands filled with paperbacks.

"People want light reading, romance and thrillers," Fabian Mirta says. "Naturally, the latest releases. Summer is when people feel like buying a book to read on the beach."

She sees two main types of customer. "Some people don't know much about books and simply want whatever everyone's talking about, like The Maid's Daughters by Sonsoles Ónega."

Others come looking for bargains. "We sell lots of paperbacks and special offers, like two books for 2.99, perhaps a romance and a thriller, so couples can swap them afterwards."

Some readers arrive knowing exactly what they want. This summer's biggest sellers include Una niña buena (A Good Girl) by Elizabeth Benavent, Comerás flores (You Will Eat Flowers) by Lucía Solla, Gratitudes by Delphine de Vigan and Atomic Habits by James Clear.

Teenagers, however, seem more interested in The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. "It's selling incredibly well because YouTubers keep recommending it and promising it'll make them rich," Mirta says.

Among the perennial beach favourites, she highlights La Vecina Rubia's Verano series and Mercedes Ron's Culpables trilogy. But, she adds, thrillers never go out of fashion.

"Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone is very popular and Pérez-Reverte's Special Correspondent is selling extremely well too."

Further along the coast, Vélez-Málaga has turned easy access to books into a tourist attraction of its own. Its biblioplaya (a beach library) sits directly on the sand at Torre del Mar.

From the outside, the white-and-blue hut looks much like the cabins used for changing or storing sun loungers. Inside, however, visitors can choose from more than 1,000 books in several languages.

The beach library stays open all year, offers wi-fi and a shaded seating area and, according to the local council, visitor numbers double during the summer months. From 1 July to 31 August it also hosts storytelling sessions for children.

Nerja has its own, smaller beach library on the Burriana beach promenade. One of the first on the Costa del Sol, it opens during July and August.

Back in Malaga city, Soledad Mena never goes to the beach without a book.

"The natural surroundings, the sound of the waves and the open view all help you concentrate and enjoy reading," she says. Mena has another responsibility too: choosing the books for the Maravillas reading club, which she founded in 2009.

"In summer I always choose shorter, more accessible books, lighter reads," she explains. For summer 2026 she has selected Vendrán los alienígenas y tendrán tus ojos (The Aliens Will Come and They Will Have Your Eyes) by María Velasco, Punto de araña (Spider Point) by Nerea Pallares and Las fronteras (The Borders) by Carolina Sarmiento.

"They're all written by women," she says. "They're not long, but they tell fascinating stories with enough depth and layers to spark good discussions."

What about lifelong readers? Is the beach really the place for a good book? For Begoña Parejo, a 52-year-old from Benalmádena, the answer is unequivocal. "I always carry a book. I've loved reading since I was a child."

In fact, she admits that reading is one of the main reasons she goes to the beach. "Without a book, the beach doesn't really appeal to me."

Her latest read was Something I Keep Upstairs by J.D. Barker, a horror novel set in a seaside town, though she says she doesn't choose books specifically for summer. "I simply carry on with whatever I'm reading."

She does, however, avoid anything too demanding. "Essays aren't really my thing and neither is Kafka. I go through phases: thrillers, historical fiction, romance."

For beach reading, she recommends any bestseller by Freida McFadden, such as The Housemaid or The Tenant. One thing has changed, though: she now reads exclusively on an e-reader. "It's just so much easier. I don't own paper books anymore."

The biggest advantage, she says, is the weight, but there are other benefits too. "If your hands are covered in sun cream or tanning lotion, you just wipe the screen clean. If you get sun cream on a paperback, it's ruined."

Dani Rovira may have left books out of his famous beach routine, but not out of his Instagram feed, where he regularly recommends titles under the hashtag #SuPoquitoDeLectura. His latest recommendation, posted at the beginning of June, was Thirst by Amélie Nothomb.

Explore the SUR in English culture and arts archive