A small Axarquia mountain village will become a meeting point for flavours from around the world this Saturday as Sabor a Competa returns for its fourth year.

Plaza de España will host the popular food and cultural event from 2pm on September 26, with residents preparing dishes representing more than 23 nationalities, a reflection of what is arguably the most nationally diverse village in the whole of Axarquia. Live music will add to the afternoon, while money raised will be donated entirely to local charitable organisations.

Competa is home to an unusually international population, with around 36 nationalities represented in the village. That diversity is at the heart of Sabor a Competa, giving foreign residents the chance to share food from their home countries with Spanish neighbours, other expats and visitors.

A taste of Competa’s international community

Previous editions have featured everything from Belgian and Canadian dishes to Colombian, French and Indonesian-inspired recipes, with residents themselves preparing the food.

The event first developed as part of Competa’s Día del Turista y del Residente, celebrating the diversity of people who live in the village and the different cultures they have brought with them.

Competa has a particularly large foreign community. Earlier figures published by the Axarquia Mancomunidad showed almost half of the village’s population was foreign-born, with British, Danish and Dutch residents among the largest groups.

That makes Sabor a Competa rather different from a conventional food fair. Rather than simply bringing restaurants into the village, the event puts local residents and their family recipes at the centre of the celebration.

Food, music and a good cause

There is also a charitable side to the afternoon, with 100 per cent of the money raised going to local charitable organisations. The 2026 announcement from Competa Town Hall describes the event as combining gastronomy, culture and charity.

For visitors, it offers an easy way to discover another side of Competa, a village better known internationally for its whitewashed streets, mountain setting and traditional wine.

For the people who call the Axarquia village home, however, Sabor a Competa is about something rather more personal – bringing dozens of different cultures together around one table.

Drivers in Caleta de Velez could soon have easier access to the A-7 motorway after Spain’s Transport Ministry gave final approval to a €6.6 million junction upgrade to be built.

Caleta de Velez A-7 junction gets final approval

Plans will turn the semi-junction at kilometre 951 into a full interchange, adding two new slip roads and two roundabouts.

At present, drivers can leave the A-7 when travelling from Malaga and join the motorway towards Malaga. Missing connections mean drivers cannot join the A-7 towards Almeria or leave it when travelling from Almeria.

New roundabouts will be placed on either side of the motorway, linked by the underpass. Connections will be made to the road between Velez-Malaga and Caleta de Velez.

More than 20 years of waiting

Completion has been discussed for more than two decades, with politicians, business groups and public bodies repeatedly calling for the missing links. Pressure continued in recent years, including a unanimous 2024 motion by the Mancomunidad Axarquia Costa del Sol calling for the junction to be completed.

Velez-Malaga mayor Jesus Lupiañez renewed the request in June 2026, asking the Transport Ministry to speed up the project. Pressure has come through political statements, parliamentary questions, business groups and institutional motions.

What happens next?

The project was approved provisionally in September 2025, when the government also declared it urgent. A public information process followed before final approval. The €6.6 million budget covers the new ramps, roundabouts, connections and an affected service road. Two new speed-change lanes will also be built, without changes to the A-7 carriageway.

Publication of the final approval in Spain’s Official State Gazette, the BOE, is expected next. No date has been announced for the construction tender or start of works.

For residents and drivers, the change could make journeys between Caleta de Velez, Velez-Malaga and the A-7 towards Almeria more straightforward.