Marbella’s Expat Residents get their own English Language Radio Programme

With the departure of the BBC from Mediterranean TV screens Marbella’s residents felt there was a certain gap in their lives that needed filling. English language residents can now follow local news about their adopted home town’s sports and cultural events by tuning into “Mi Marbella”, a brand new radio programme that will air three times a week.

To kick-start the new English language radio programme, veteran crooner and broadcaster Des O’Connor popped in as a guest. The new radio channel is an initiative by Marbella Town Hall and RTV Marbella and hopes to provide residents as well as visitors with local news and information on current events in Greater Marbella. There will be weekly interviews with local noteworthy citizens such as José Luis Hernández, Marbella’s Councillor for Tourism and a sprinkling of well-known local personalities, town officials and the occasional international celebrity.

It all started above a Bakery

It must have struck visitors as a little strange to hold a pre-launch party for a radio programme at a bakery but that is exactly what happened, when Mi Marbella welcomed potential listeners at the Artisan Marbella Bakery last week.
 
Over platters of tasty homemade canapés curious visitors discovered that the new English language radio service would provide them with question and answer type programming, where listeners can submit questions about topics close to their hearts and hear back from Town Hall on subjects as diverse as building permits, local elections, finance and driving licenses.
 
And if the Champaign flutes in their hands didn’t contain the real French nectar but merely homemade Vin Doré sparkling wine, so could guests at least say afterwards they’d definitely attended a prestigious launch for their vino contained a dusting of 24K gold. The new show’s host, Nicole King, made up with winning smiles what the venue might have lacked in glamour.

Local expat residents and visitors dreaming of buying their own Marbella holiday home can tune into the Mi Marbella radio show on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, when thanks to the Town Hall and RTV Marbella local events will get an airing between 3.30 pm and 5.00 pm on 107.6 FM.
 
A Summer of spectacular Events

Local residents will argue it is high time such a radio service was introduced for never before has Marbella hosted so many world-class events as this year.
 
Puerto Banus has just hosted a prestigious top fashion event, where a EUR 69,000 Barbie and EUR 1.5 million cars were just the icing on the cake among many other exclusive treats. The Marbella Luxury Weekend took place against the background of what is widely regarded as Europe’s most glamorous port.
 
Celebrities and those who’d like to be considered one packed into the four and five-star hotels in Marbella and anybody who is anyone was out to be seen in all the right places. Marbella’s luxury hotels were filled to the rafters with people in search of glamour and luxury.

Last year’s event lured more than 50,000 visitors to Puerto Banus, where VIPs sipped Champaign in their designated tents and flitted from one private party to another to ensure EVERYBODY knew they were in town.

High-profile events like these benefit the local economy enormously and add greatly to Marbella’s international appeal. Wealthy VIPs who may have considered buying a new holiday home at the French Riviera often discover how much further their Euros will stretch at the Costa del Sol when they attend such spectacular shows as the Marbella Luxury Weekend.

An apartment in the town’s bustling Golden Mile district or a villa in dreamy El Madronal in the hills above Marbella costs considerably less than a villa at Lake Como or a penthouse in Cannes. And now such VIP expats can enjoy sitting by their vast infinity pools while listening to English language radio!