Text & photos: Ash Bolton

They are one of Gibraltar’s most iconic and enduring symbols. Yet a number of the Rock’s famous apes will be captured and relocated abroad in the next few months. Government chiefs have been prompted to act as groups of the Barbary Macaques have been up to no good in built up areas such as schools and Main Street. According to scientists based on the British Overseas Territory, many of the monkeys have lost their fear of humans and now regard them as a source of rich food. It’s believed up to 120 of the Rock’s 230 strong monkey colony could now be deported to North Africa. (more…)

By guest blogger Ash Bolton

I arrived in the small Spanish village of Roncesvalles in the north east of Spain late on a rather depressing looking Saturday evening in September, just as the skies turned dark with rain and released a torrential downpour.

Sprinting off the bus with a heavy backpack weighing me down, I ran to the municipal albergue (subsidised shelters along the Pilgrimage route) but got soaked to the bone within a minute and was already questioning whether this adventure was such a good idea. The plan had been to catch a taxi over the Pyrenees and into France, to reach the traditional starting point of the Camino Francés, Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, but a quick look for said taxi proved fruitless, so I took this as a welcome sign that fate was telling me to start here. (more…)

Over the years I’ve been fortunate to see a lot of Andalucía and enjoy many of the exotic experiences that are unique to this southernmost part of Europe. So I like to think I know it pretty well, and travelling to Algeciras to hook up with a group of journalists and PR people I thought I had the measure of the press trip we were about to embark upon.

I hadn’t counted on the sheer enthusiasm and knowledge of organiser Manni Coe, the founder of Toma Tours and re-discoverer of the route we were about to follow. His detailed knowledge of southern Spain is born out of a passion for its culture, history and people that also shapes the fantastic tours he puts together. (more…)

So there I was, quietly enjoying a drink at Bar El Casar in the little village of Benahavís where I live, when I got talking to the bar’s proprietor Chuck and fellow local resident Daren. Word had got out to them that I write restaurant reviews for Essential Marbella Magazine, so when they started comparing notes on what the perfect hamburger should look and taste like it ended in a hamburger cook-off challenge – with yours truly as the judge. (more…)

I like a lot of Italian things: cars, furniture, clothes, art, etc. What all of the above have in common is design, that special Italian flair for creating things that are pleasing to the senses, and the eye in particular. But, as in most countries, there are two sides to Italy. One is a world of elegance and sophistication, reflected in the fashion of Milan, the architecture of Florence, the monuments of Rome and the uniqueness of the Venetian thalassocracy.

The other Italy is an earthy world inhabited by real salt-of-the-earth people whose priorities in life are not being stylish and sophisticated but enjoying food, family and the simple pleasures in life. It is within this category that most Italian food falls, for where other countries have a rather clear distinction between haute and peasant cuisine, Italian gastronomy is remarkably homogenous. (more…)