Costa del Sol residents are being invited to swap their usual morning routine for a five-kilometre charity walk in Benalmadena on Thursday, October 15, helping raise awareness of the daily struggle faced by millions without safe drinking water.

The fourth annual Walkathon for Water will start at 10am from Sahara Sunset on Avenida Rocío Jurado, with participants following the seafront towards Puerto Marina before returning to the resort.

Organised by the We Are Water Foundation with Royal Oasis Club at Pueblo Quinta and Sahara Sunset, both managed by Hilton Grand Vacations, the event uses the five-kilometre distance to represent the journey many children make every day to find water.

Walking the distance many children face

According to the We Are Water Foundation, more than two billion people worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water. Many children in Africa, Asia and Latin America walk several kilometres each day to collect water for their families.

Participants in Benalmadena will therefore be turning an everyday walk into a reminder of a very different reality for communities around the world.

Money raised during this year’s international Walkathon programme will support two water projects in India and Mexico, with the work expected to improve access to clean water for more than 5,000 people. The Benalmadena event is one of 20 Walkathons being held across eight countries during 2026.

How to join the Benalmadena walk

The five-kilometre route is expected to take between one hour and 90 minutes and is open to people who want to support the cause.

Registration can be completed online through the Walkathon for Water section of the We Are Water Foundation website, with a minimum donation of €5 per person. People can also register at the event itself.

The walk starts and finishes at Sahara Sunset, Avenida Rocío Jurado, Benalmadena Costa, at 10am.

Afterwards, participants can stay for paella, sangria and a raffle from 1pm.
For registration and full event details, visit the We Are Water Foundation website.

For many people, passing their driving test represents freedom, independence and the start of a new chapter. For long-time Costa del Sol expat Steve Marshall, it certainly did.“I was thinking over my morning cup of tea, how often do I use my car each week?” Steve says.

Looking back, he remembers exactly how important getting behind the wheel felt.“When I passed my driving test (second time I admit) it felt as if I’d been awarded a badge of honour. I was a driver! I was independent and I loved it.”Years later, however, Steve admits his attitude towards older motorists has changed considerably.“I looked at ‘older’ drivers and wondered in despair how they could still be on the road – such was the intolerance of youth,” he recalls. “With the years has come a little bit more wisdom.”

Age is not the only question

Steve believes there is no simple age at which someone should automatically stop driving. “Age alone should not be the only consideration,” he says. Instead, he believes older motorists need to take an honest look at several factors that can affect their ability behind the wheel.“Your sight, reactions, ability to park, medication, reduced mobility and general tiredness are all things that need your honest attention if you are to truly be a safe and considerate driver,” Steve explains. That honest assessment can be difficult, particularly when driving has been part of someone’s independence for decades. Steve also believes motorists should consider whether keeping a car still makes financial sense.

Is your car still worth the cost?

Insurance, tax, servicing and other running costs can add up quickly, particularly for someone living on a pension. “How often do you use your car and does the aforementioned cost warrant that drain on your pension?” Steve asks. His own experience provides a good example.

“My own car insurance was more than 300 euros for the year,” he says. Steve uses his car less than he once did, but there is an important reason he has not given it up.“With no bus route to fall back on it’s a lifeline,” he explains.

Do you still need such a big car?

Steve also questions whether older motorists sometimes continue driving vehicles that are larger than they actually need. “I have a ‘mature’ estate vehicle that never lets me down – but really a smaller vehicle would do the job just as well,” he admits. “In the past I needed a larger vehicle but that requirement no longer exists.”

He has noticed other older drivers continuing to use large, comfortable cars and believes this can sometimes create a misleading sense of security. “I see ‘older’ drivers in big, very comfortable cars that in truth cocoon them from the realities of the road,” he says. “That false sense of well being and security is a recipe for disaster.”

Giving up the car does not mean giving up

For Steve, perhaps the most important point is that deciding to stop driving should not be seen as surrendering independence. “If you feel the time is right to relinquish your car don’t think of it as giving up your independence because it isn’t,” he says. “There is a time in life for everything and alternatives are often just around the corner.”

For anyone facing that difficult decision, Steve’s message is ultimately a positive one.

“Whatever you decide, live your best life,” he says, “even if it no longer includes your ‘trusty metal friend’.”

You might not think about rockets or space when you check your sat-nav, watch the weather forecast or use your phone to communicate with someone on the other side of the world. But all of those everyday conveniences are connected to technology that depends on getting satellites into space, and the way we do that is changing fast.

That is exactly what makes this year’s World Space Week particularly interesting, and there is plenty to see from Spain’s own skies. If you have a clear view this week, several planets will be visible, the Moon will pass close to Mars and Jupiter, and the Draconid meteor shower will reach its peak, all while World Space Week 2026 celebrates 100 years of rocket development and looks at how a new era of space exploration is taking shape.

Why Spain’s skies are worth watching this week

You don’t need a telescope or any specialist knowledge to join in. Some of the best sights can be seen simply by stepping outside at the right time, making this year’s “Rocket Revolution” something people across Spain can experience for themselves.  The timing is particularly good for anyone who enjoys looking at the night sky. Saturn reaches opposition around October 4, meaning it is visible through the night and at its brightest for the year. The Moon then passes near Mars on October 5 and near Jupiter on October 6.

Then comes the Draconid meteor shower, which is active from October 6 to 10 and reaches its peak overnight on October 8-9. This year brings particularly good conditions because there will be very little moonlight interfering with the display. The Draconids are not normally one of the year’s biggest meteor showers, so nobody should expect the sky to fill with shooting stars. But they can produce occasional bright meteors, and the best part is that you do not need specialist equipment to try to see them. Find somewhere away from bright lights, give your eyes time to adjust and look towards the northern sky after dark.

Spain already has a place in Europe’s space story

You also do not have to travel far from home to find Spain’s connection with space exploration. The European Space Agency’s European Space Astronomy Centre, or ESAC, is in Villanueva de la Cañada near Madrid and is the centre where ESA operates space astronomy missions and analyses their scientific data. The centre opened its doors to the public on October 3 for an Open Day featuring scientists, engineers, talks, exhibitions and activities for families and visitors interested in space.

One of the sessions focused specifically on Spain’s growing role in European space activities, with representatives from the Spanish Space Agency and ESA reserve astronaut Sara García Alonso among those taking part. That is a good reminder that the space race is no longer something happening only in the United States or through a handful of huge government programmes. Spain is part of Europe’s space sector, with scientists, engineers and companies working on missions and technology that reach far beyond the country’s borders.

From a cabbage field to reusable rockets

There is another reason 2026 is a fitting year to celebrate rockets. It marks 100 years since Robert Goddard launched the world’s first successful liquid-fuelled rocket in Massachusetts. His rocket, named Nell, flew for just 2.5 seconds, reached 41 feet and landed 184 feet away in a cabbage field.

It sounds almost comically small beside today’s rockets, but Goddard’s work helped establish liquid-fuel propulsion as a route towards modern rocketry. A century later, rockets are carrying satellites, spacecraft and astronauts, while reusable launch vehicles are changing the cost and frequency of getting hardware into orbit.

You don’t have to be an astronaut

That is the idea behind this year’s “Rocket Revolution” theme. Space is becoming more accessible to commercial companies, startups, universities and new national programmes, rather than remaining the preserve of a small number of government space agencies. For those of us living in Spain, you do not have to be an astronaut or a scientist to be part of World Space Week. There are events and activities for the public, while simply stepping outside and watching the night sky is enough to see some of what is happening above us.

And the technology being launched into space has plenty to do with life back on Earth. Satellites support navigation, communications, weather forecasting and Earth observation, while space-based data is used for environmental monitoring, disaster response and connectivity. So while World Space Week may be about rockets, astronauts and the future of space exploration, there is a very simple way to join in from Spain this week. Look up.