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Jennie Rhodes
Marbella
Monday, 7 October 2024
The first important event on the agenda for the 40th anniversary of SUR in English, for which celebrations will stretch into next year, was the gala evening held on Monday evening (7 October) at the Hotel Don Pepe Gran Meliá in Marbella.
More than 200 people attended the event including representatives from town halls, associations, organisations and businesses from the Spanish and international community. It was sponsored by Malaga’s provincial authority, the Diputación Provincial de Málaga, Turismo Costa del sol, Marbella, Mijas and Torremolinos town halls and Laude San Pedro International College.
The gala event gave the newspaper the opportunity not just to celebrate its own history but also to offer recognition to other organisations that have, like SUR in English, been important pioneers in the international community in the south of Spain.
Manolo Castillo, editor-in-chief of SUR, Rachel Haynes, editor of SUR in English and David Andrews, PR, distribution and advertising with SUR in English opened the evening with a welcome speech in which Rachel thanked the sponsors as well as friends old and new, for coming to the event. Rachel and David explained in English and Spanish that the gala would be “bilingual” to ensure that SUR’s 40-year objective, linking communities, was achieved.
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Manolo Castillo thanked everyone for coming and recalled that when SUR in English was first suggested, it seemed “strange” and he wasn’t sure whether it would be a success, but with the support of SUR and the “hard work” of the founders, Joan and Gerry Davis, it took off. He congratulated those involved in the last 40 years of the newspaper, both from the publication and advertising and marketing sides; the people who "make the paper work".
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Rachel spoke of the history of the newspaper and highlighted that for 2096 weeks, since 20 July 1984, every Friday SUR in English has been distributed along the Costa del Sol, using a free newspaper style funded by advertising, making it a pioneering newspaper in Spain. “It’s working together with SUR, SUR Deutsche Ausgabe, that makes the newspaper so special,” she said.
Rachel invited former editor Liz Parry and Eve Browne who was in charge of advertising for the newspaper for 20 years to look back over the last 40 years of SUR in English. They agreed that the essence of SUR in English has stayed the same, although they recognised that the readership has changed, with younger people moving to the Costa del Sol, rather than the traditional profile of people retiring here.
The three also talked about how technology has changed dramatically, not just in terms of the arrival of the internet but how the printing process has also developed. Eve remembered when colour advertising was introduced and both Liz and Eve recalled with great fondness their years working with the newspaper. Liz and Eve were presented with plaques to thank them for their work with SUR in English.
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Recognition was given to four organisations that have shared SUR in English's aim to link the different communities on the Costa del Sol over the years. While it was an extremely difficult decision as there are countless organisations who have worked with this aim in mind, such as international schools, shops, clubs and societies that have been long-established on the Cost del Sol, eventually the Mijas Foreign Residents Department, Panorama real estate, the Malaga English Cemetery Foundation and the British Chamber of Commerce in Spain were chosen for their pioneering work.
Updated, reliable information in English was a necessity that was noted not just by the directors at SUR, but also by local town halls who were receiving more and more enquiries from residents who did not speak Spanish. The pioneers in this sense were in Mijas where the Costa del Sol's first foreign residents department was opened in 1985, just a year after the birth of SUR in English.
At the helm of the service was Danish resident Anette Skou, now retired, who over the years helped thousands of residents deal with paperwork and issues with the town hall and other authorities.
Mario Bravo, councillor at Mijas town hall, presented Annette with the recognition, who said she has been “very privileged to have worked at Mijas town hall.” She also revealed that she had “seen an advertisement in SUR” and decided to apply for the position. Speaking six languages stood her in good stead for the job and she said that as similar ages, the residents department and SUR in English have “grown up together” and been “hand in hand”.
Katja Thirion, who accompanied Annette on the stage and has worked for the department for 20 years, also talked about the work and also reflected on how technology has changed their work from filling in forms to guiding people through the online processes.
Foreigners began buying homes in Spain much before the 1980s. In fact it was as far back as 1970 that Panorama became the first international real estate agency in Marbella. Christopher Clover, the son of an American real estate business owner, arrived to head the office in 1973, at a time when the Marbella jetset was in its heyday.
Christopher was accompanied by his children Katinka and Alex Clover as he was presented the recognition by Manuel Cardeña, president of the Mancomunidad association of town halls on the western Costa del Sol. Christopher thanked SUR in English for the recognition and reflected on the five decades that Panorama has been here. He talked about the complexities of making international telephone calls when they first started and said that the main advertising before the internet was through the press and spoke of the importance of networking.
Special recognition also went to the foundation formed to take care of the historical English Cemetery in Malaga city. The non-profit organisation, whose president is former British consul Bruce McIntyre, works to maintain and restore this first non-Catholic cemetery on the Spanish mainland.
Bruce was joined by David Tweed to accept the recognition presented by Marta Huete, deputy mayor of Torremolinos. Bruce explained that when he arrived in 2000, the cemetery was little known by people in Malaga and those who did know about it thought that it was property of the British government. However, the money stopped coming from Britain at the beginning of the 20th century. “Many Malagueños have got to know us over the years” through the programme of events. “We are proud that Malaga knows that we exist,” he said.
Companies in Spain have been doing business with firms around the world for centuries and the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) in Spain was founded back in 1908 in Barcelona as a network of support for firms doing business between Spain and the UK. The BCC in Spain now has branches in Madrid, Barcelona and Andalucía with a large number of businesses on the Costa del Sol active in a wide range of events organised by Andalucía regional vice-president Derek A. Langley. They cover all sectors with a common goal: to link Spain and the UK through business. The Andalucía regional office was founded in 2006.
Manolo Castillo presented Derek with the recognition, who in turn gave some history of the regions where the chamber works and their close relationship with the British Embassy and international department for trade. Derek explained that they hold over 70 events per year across the country and that Andalucía is “the fastest growing office in Spain”. He said that the Chamber and SUR in English have worked very closely over the years as both entities’ objective is to “bring communities together”.
The evening ended with deputy mayor of Marbella, Félix Romero, commenting on the “vital role that journalists play” in today’s society. “SUR in English continues to be a beacon for information that reflects the wealth of Marbella and the Costa,” he said. “Through the pages of SUR in English we have witnessed the impressive evolution of the Costa del Sol,” Romero added. He concluded that he is “convinced” that SUR in English will continue over the next 40 years and thanked the paper for its “commitment” to the Costa del Sol.
Guests were then invited outside to a cocktail where they had the opportunity to mingle and catch up with old friends and continue in the spirit of making new connections and linking communities.
Download the special Sur in English, 40 Years in here.
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