Walking Football Spain Benalmadena kicked off its ninth season on Thursday, September 3, at Polideportivo Ramon Rico, just behind Benalmadena’s bull ring. Thirty-three players aged 51 to 80 split across two pitches for a pair of morning games in the end of the summer heat. Organisers say numbers are already high for just two sessions and, so popular has the club become, they are not chasing a big membership drive at the moment.

Play for fun, not points

WFS Benalmadena stays a turn-up-and-play club. It turned down a formal league in its first year and has stuck with that choice. Last season, more than 100 people turned out at least once. A core of about 30 play regularly; others fill gaps when they can. Ages run from 50 to 83, with an average of 68. Skill and fitness levels vary and are not that important anyway, so both games are mixed to keep it even.

Monday and Thursday mornings remain some slots. Membership is open to any resident over 50. Visitors who live locally for part of the year can usually join in too. Kit is straightforward: shirt, shorts, socks, trainers and shin pads, plus a bottle of water.

Beers after the whistle

Players enjoy the hour of exercise, then linger for a couple of beers. That social side matters as much as the football. Games stay non-contact, walking-pace only, with limited touches so older joints stay happy. Changing rooms and showers sit next to a bar and restaurant on site.

Anyone interested should look at walkingfootballspain.com before turning up. Earlier EWN coverage of the same club includes its eighth-anniversary season and a feature on its older players. For the sport’s UK origins see the Walking Football Association.

Ninth season already looks busy. Two pitches, 33 lads of mixed ability, and no plans to get much bigger. Just football, a laugh, and a drink afterwards.

Benalmadena Walking Football elite. Credit: WFSB

A holiday couple in a rental Citroen C4 smashed through a low wall and into the back of TRH Hotel Mijas on Sunday after mixing up the pedals near the bins.

Local residents said the pair were trying to work the tight one-way streets of Mijas Pueblo when the grey hatchback left Avenida de Mejico, punched through a roughly 50cm high wall and dropped onto its side through the hotel’s rear doorway. Rubbish containers normally sit in that yard. Firefighters later worked around the wreckage while neighbours watched from the terrace above.

What happened at the hotel

Spanish comments circulating locally describe a married couple attempting a manoeuvre and reversing beside the containers. Instead of braking they accelerated backwards and went into the backdoor of the hotel. Tiles, brickwork and a chunk of roofing came down. An air-conditioning unit sat inches from the crumpled bodywork. Thankfully, no one was taking the bins out at the time.

Occupants walked away with only minor injuries. Whether they held a booking at the four-star hotel remains unclear. A crane will almost certainly be needed to lift the Citroen out of the confined space.

Tight streets catch visitors out

Mijas Pueblo’s cobbled lanes, steep climbs and sudden turns regularly catch drivers who do not know the layout. Council work on the steepest streets and fading road markings has already been reported this year. Holidaymakers arriving in hire cars often discover the village is better tackled on foot or by the tourist bus.

Insurance questions now hang over both the wrecked motor and the damaged hotel fabric. Hire-car policies frequently exclude certain off-road or low-speed impacts of this kind.

Residents posting photos stressed the same point: everyone involved is OK, just a little bruised, and the rest is only bricks and metal. For anyone planning a first visit, leave the car in the upper car park and walk the last stretch. Narrow streets and holiday hire cars do not always mix.