Bagpipes in Benalmádena: the mysterious sound that plays every Sunday

So, one random Sunday, I show up there, just off Avenida Arroyo Hondo, with the international cemetery on one side and views of the Mediterranean on the other, a few minutes before 11am, hoping to meet him. Beli, a friend and drummer in his band, is also waiting for him on a wooden bench, and she warns me: "He's quite a character, but he's got a heart... ."

"My surname is Thomson and it's without a p" Leslie tells me when he arrives a few minutes later with a large instrument case tucked under his arm. "Unlike Thompson and Williams, there are more Thomsons without a 'p' than with it, but most people spell it with a 'p'." At 73, he has grey hair, a serene look on his face and an affable smile. So, here's the first surprise: he has an Argentinian accent. "My maternal grandparents emigrated to Buenos Aires to electrify the railway and my paternal grandparents went to Ushuaia with Aberdeen Angus cattle."

Nevertheless, make no mistake, Leslie Thomson is and feels Scottish through and through, "I have eight Scottish surnames." His father, born in Argentina, was sent to study in Scotland and fought in World War II with the British army. "When he came back from the war, he stayed on to live in Buenos Aires. That's when he met my mother." Although born in the capital of Argentina in 1953, Thomson says he did not speak Spanish until he was five years old. "English was always spoken at home. That was my first language. A language that would soon be joined by another: the language of music."

"A famous Scottish piper used to say that the bagpipes, more than an instrument, are the symbolic and musical representation of the Scottish spirit," Thomson asserts, recalling his beginnings with the instrument. "The first time I heard bagpipes, I was about eight years old. I have no ear for music, I'm terrible at it, and I'm even worse at singing, but, as soon as I heard the bagpipes, I said, 'this is my thing'. It's like a calling of my people, so to speak, that comes through the blood."

So, when he emigrated to Spain, specifically Benalmádena, with his family in 1990, the Scottish bagpipes flew with them. "I think those of us with Scottish blood are emigrants by nature. Going somewhere else is always an adventure". Now he finds he's the only bagpiper on the Costa del Sol. "When there are events like Burns Night, the presence of a piper is an important element. As soon as they found out I was there, everyone who organised these events started to schedule them around my availability."

Thomson says that the bagpipes are not a very popular instrument with his neighbours, so he had to find somewhere else to rehearse. While working for a funeral home at Benalmádena's international cemetery, he noticed a small patch of land next to the road, with no houses nearby. "The nearest neighbours, my clients, weren't going to complain," he jokes, "the dead never complain".

So, he has gone there every week for the last 20 years, letting the sounds of the pipes connected to the bagpipes' bag fill nearby hill and vale with Scottish tunes every Sunday as if summoning the very spirit of William Wallace. "Some people stop and leave me a couple of euros for a coffee," he says with amusement, "and for me, that's a compliment. They're showing their appreciation for something they've enjoyed, aren't they?"

He adds that he is so known for being at this spot that the locals simply call it 'Piper's Hill'. "The other day, a friend was looking for me as he couldn't remember how to get here, so he phoned me from the petrol station and said, 'Hey, look, what's the name of the park you're at? And I replied: 'I don't know the official name, I call it Piper's Hill'. And I heard a voice in the background of the call say: 'Oh yes, where Leslie practices?' "

In 2019, Thomson took it a step further and created his own Scottish bagpipe band, Sur Pipes Band. "It was never my intention. I mean, it's just that people approached me," he confesses. Scotspeople? "No, no, it's rare that there are any Scots in the band." The band currently includes Spaniards, Russians, Uruguayans, Welsh and Germans. Everyone dons the famous tartan kilts for special events, right from St. Patrick's Day to the Douglas' Days in Teba.

Another band member turns up to rehearse. Beli has already has her drum ready. Thomson takes his Scottish bagpipes out of a huge case and assembles them with great care. It's time for the music to speak. As I walk away, 'Scotland the Brave' can be heard on Piper's Hill.