If you are looking for for an easy weekend outing with live music, handmade gifts and open bars, then Torrox Pueblo is the one on Saturday, September 26.

Crafts and music in the picture perfect village

More than 30 artisan stalls will be set up in Plaza de la Constitucion in Torrox Pueblo from 10am to 2pm on Saturday, September 26.

Visitors can browse handmade jewellery, local art, crafts and gifts while listening to live music in the village square. The market perfect for residents and visitors, giving locals another option for a relaxed day out in the town if you don’t fancy the beach. The popular monthly market has switched back now from it’s night time hours it has during the summer, to being held the last Saturday of every month from 10am to 2pm.

The Curry Boys entertain the crowds

Live music will fill the square from 11.30am to 1.30pm, with The Curry Boys performing popular songs from the 1960s to the 1990s. Guest DJ Antonio is also listed as poart of the day to keeo you entertained as you browse the stalls.

September 26 will be a very busy day across the local area, with Torrox’s Day of the Tourist programme also taking place in different parts of the town. Visitors planning to attend more than one event should check the latest timings and allow plenty of travel time between Torrox Pueblo and Torrox Costa, and give yourself time for parking. Don’t forget your comfortable shoes to explore the rest of the picturesque town after you have shopped till you can no more.

For anyone looking for a friendly Saturday morning activity, the artisan market is just perfect for handmade goods, a bit of retro live entertainment and a chance to enjoy the village all at your own pace. Grab yourself a coffee and take in the surroundings.

October is set to be a month for book lovers across Calvià, with the municipality’s public libraries preparing a packed programme of activities celebrating reading, storytelling and the power of books to bring people together.

The annual Month of the Library will see around 20 free activities taking place across Calvià’s seven public libraries, with something planned for children, families, young people and adults.

Rather than simply offering somewhere to borrow a book, the libraries will become meeting places for culture, creativity and community throughout the month.

From crime novels to Harry Potter

Literary fans will have plenty to get stuck into, including the launch of a new crime fiction book club.

Its first title will be Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, giving participants the chance to revisit one of the most famous works in the genre and discuss its enduring appeal.

Harry Potter fans are also being invited to put their literary knowledge to the test with a themed literary scavenger hunt, adding a more playful element to the programme.

For younger readers, storytelling sessions will offer an opportunity to discover new characters and adventures away from screens and into the pages of a book.

A new way to enjoy reading

One of the more unusual additions this year is a ‘Reading Party’, inspired by the growing trend for communal silent reading.

Rather than discussing books or taking part in a traditional book club, participants can simply bring along something they want to read and settle down alongside other book lovers.

The idea is to create a relaxed space where people can enjoy reading together while leaving phones and everyday distractions behind.

There will also be a bibliotherapy workshop, exploring how reading can be used as a tool for reflection and wellbeing.

Celebrating writers and libraries

The programme also ties in with important dates in the literary calendar, including Day of Women Writers on October 19 and International Library Day on October 24.

Other activities include workshops, book-related challenges and creative sessions, with the programme designed to encourage people who may not regularly visit their local library to discover what is on offer.

There will even be a Korean-themed culinary activity, adding an international flavour to the celebrations.

With seven municipal libraries involved, the events will take place in different parts of Calvià, making it possible for residents across the municipality to join in.

All activities are free, although some may require prior registration due to limited places.

Keeping a close eye on your drink has long been the main preventive measure against being spiked on a night out. Now police in London say that may not be enough as offenders are turning to drug-laced vapes and ordinary medicines too, a shift that changes what staying safe actually means for anyone drinking, dancing or vaping their way through a night out.

The Met’s cases show spiking is moving into homes

Somebody at a bar carefully keeps their glass in sight all night, but thinks nothing of taking a puff from a friend’s vape, or a stranger’s, being passed around while at a party. That’s the blind spot the Metropolitan Police says offenders are exploiting, and it’s why the old advice to just watch your drink no longer covers the full picture. 

The Met recorded more than 2,700 spiking-related offences in London over the past year, up 20 per cent on the year before, with only 131 leading to a charge, caution or summons. More than half the victims were aged between 18 and 35, and officers say the venues themselves are changing too, with more incidents happening at house parties, in flats and in student accommodation rather than the bars and clubs where people are usually on guard.

Drug-laced vapes and everyday medicines are the new tools 

Alongside traditional drugs including GHB (a sedative sometimes called liquid ecstasy) and scopolamine, offenders are increasingly using vapes and vaping liquids laced with THC (the psychoactive compound in cannabis) or Spice (a synthetic cannabinoid), as well as over-the-counter antihistamines and travel-sickness tablets. Detective Superintendent Dan Thompson said the nature of spiking is changing as offenders widen the range of substances involved.

This completely changes the game, as a vape or a stick of gum hasn’t usually carried the same instinctive warning as an open drink. However, the effect on a victim from one of these new methods, drowsiness, confusion and memory loss, can now be every bit as severe.

Why a drink-testing kit can’t catch everything

It’s a brand new problem facing people on a night out, who previously could use drink-spiking test kits or testing straws as their safety net. The Met is also warning that commercial self-testing kits sold online often can’t detect the prescription and over-the-counter medicines now being used.

It’s a limitation EWN has seen up close already. NarXcup, the Madrid start-up behind an intelligent ice cube that changes colour and turns solid the moment it touches a spiked drink, currently only detects scopolamine, and a version that catches more substances isn’t expected until 2027. No single product on the market, in other words, can promise complete protection, whatever it’s slipped into.

Spain already takes chemical submission seriously 

None of this is evidence that vape spiking is rising in Spain specifically. This is a London police warning based on their own cases and data, not a study, and it’s worth reading as a changing pattern to watch rather than a documented trend in the UK and Spain.

Even so, the relevance is real. The UK government’s own travel advice for Spain already flags drink spiking and ‘date rape’ drugs including GHB, telling visitors to buy their own drinks and keep them in sight. Across the pond, Canada’s travel advisory goes further, warning against accepting snacks, drinks, gum or cigarettes from new acquaintances, since they may contain drugs. Andalucía, meanwhile, has run its own sumisión química (chemical submission) protocol since 2023, coordinating hospitals, forensic doctors and police, proof that this is an established concern here.

Spain’s busy nightlife, festivals and shared villa parties, where a vape is often passed round a group without a second thought, are exactly the setting where that threat matters most.

What to do if something feels wrong on a night out

If you or someone with you suddenly feels unusually drowsy, confused or unwell, tell a trusted friend or a member of venue staff straight away and don’t let that person leave alone. Where possible, hold onto the drink or vape involved rather than throwing it away, since it may be the only evidence available.

In Spain, call 112 in an emergency or get to a hospital’s emergency department as soon as you can. The Met says some substances only leave a narrow window for forensic testing and urges reporting within the first 12 hours, so acting quickly, and encouraging a friend to do the same, gives any investigation its best chance.