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’.”

If you are shopping online in Spain this week, there is a good reason to take a second look before entering your card details. With Prime Day underway, shoppers are being warned to be particularly careful about where they click and which websites they trust. A website can look convincing enough to make you think you are on Amazon, right down to the familiar branding and layout.

That makes it easy to get caught up in the search for a bargain and forget to check one of the most important things on the page: whether you are actually on Amazon at all. The warning comes as researchers track a surge in websites using Amazon and Prime Day-related names, with some designed to look like genuine shopping pages.

Amazon scams are multiplying during Prime Day

Check Point Research recorded 1,284 newly registered domains linked to Amazon and Prime Day in September, compared with 905 in July. That represents a 42 per cent increase in just three months. September’s figure was also 37 per cent higher than the same month last year, showing how quickly the number of Amazon-related domains is growing as shoppers prepare for major sales events.

Of the domains registered in September, 6.5 per cent were classified as malicious or suspicious by Check Point. That does not mean every new Amazon-related domain is fraudulent, but it shows how many are being created with the potential to cause problems for shoppers. The timing is no coincidence. Prime Day brings millions of people online looking for discounts, giving scammers a much larger pool of potential targets. Some fraudulent websites copy Amazon’s branding and layout, while others are designed to collect login information or payment details. A shopper may believe they are signing into their account or completing a purchase when they are actually handing information directly to criminals.

Fake websites can look remarkably convincing

One of the problems for shoppers is that spotting a scam is becoming harder. Poor spelling, strange wording and obvious translation mistakes have traditionally been useful warning signs, but researchers say criminals are increasingly using artificial intelligence to produce more convincing phishing messages and websites. That means a message written in fluent Spanish, complete with Amazon branding and a professional-looking design, should not automatically be trusted. The appearance of a website is no longer enough to tell you who is really behind it.

Some of the campaigns identified by Check Point have used fake account warnings, supposed gift-card offers and other messages designed to get people to click quickly. The aim is often to create a sense that something needs to be dealt with immediately. A message claiming that your Amazon account has been locked, that you have been charged for something you did not buy or that you have received a gift card can be particularly effective because it gives you a reason to react before checking where the link actually leads.

The website address matters

The safest way to shop during Prime Day is to go directly to Amazon rather than following a link in an unexpected email, text message or social media post. If you receive a message claiming to be from Amazon, open the Amazon app yourself or type the company’s website into your browser. That removes the risk of being redirected to a fake page through a malicious link. Check the web address before entering your password or payment information. A website can look almost identical to Amazon while using a completely different domain.

Be particularly cautious with addresses containing unusual combinations of words, extra characters or domains that are not associated with Amazon. And don’t assume that a padlock symbol means a website is legitimate. HTTPS indicates that the connection is encrypted, but it does not tell you whether the company behind the website is genuine.

Don’t let a bargain rush you

Scammers rely heavily on urgency. A countdown, limited-time offer or warning that an account will be closed can make people act before they have checked what they are looking at. Prime Day provides the perfect setting for that tactic because shoppers are already expecting prices to change quickly and deals to disappear.

If a deal looks unusually good, take a moment to check it through the official Amazon website or app instead of clicking through from an advert or message. The same applies to supposed refunds, delivery problems and account warnings. If something needs attention, check your Amazon account directly rather than using the link provided in the message.

Using a different password for your Amazon account and enabling two-factor authentication can also limit the damage if login details are stolen. With thousands of new Amazon-related domains appearing around Prime Day, taking a few seconds to check where you are before handing over your details could save you considerably more than the bargain you were trying to find.