Summer is properly here now, and Estepona is buzzing. As this lands in your inbox the Feria is in full swing down at the fairgrounds, with a few days still to go before it winds up on Sunday.

With the World Cup quarter-finals upon us, much of the buzz this week is around the football and the Feria: the bars have their screens on and their terraces full. No bad thing: it leaves the evenings free for culture, open-air cinema and the summer-programme nights that are only now getting going.

Plus, further down: what did Estepona build, open to great excitement, and quietly close 24 hours later? All is revealed below.

There's something on almost every night of the week. Grab a coffee, here's what's on.

I gave the Feria the full write-up last week, so I won't repeat myself here. But with the fiesta running right through to Sunday 12 July, there's still plenty left on the programme. The day feria in the town centre and the night feria at the 📍fairgrounds both continue, and over at Mi Caseta there's live music every night of the Feria (programme here). A few things are worth singling out from the days ahead:

Thu 9, 20:00: Nuria Fergó, Caseta Municipal. One of Spain's best-loved pop voices, a household name here since she broke through on the first series of Operación Triunfo back in 2001. She's out on a tour marking 25 years on stage, and she's on tonight as this lands.

Fri 10 & Sat 11, from 12:00: Paseo de Caballos, 📍Recinto Ferial. The daytime horse parade is the Feria at its most photogenic: riders in full Andalusian dress, horses turned out in their finest. Free horse-drawn carriage rides run from the Caseta Municipal in the early evening too.

Sun 12: the closing day. The fiesta winds up with the horse-harnessing competition below (from 13:00), a Día de la Paella at the Caseta Municipal (15:00, free with a drink), and the traditional Feria bullfight at the Plaza de Toros in the evening.

Sun 12, from 13:00: IX Concurso de Enjaezado a la Andaluza (Andalusian-style horse-harnessing competition), 📍Recinto Ferial. Free. Riders and horses turned out in full traditional Andalusian tack compete across five categories, judged on how faithfully their dress and equipment honour the region's equestrian tradition. A handsome, very andaluz way to see out the Feria, and a good one for the camera.

📍 Recinto Ferial (Fairgrounds), Estepona
🔗 See the full agenda here

A good mix this week while the Feria runs its course: a family film under the stars, a community choir concert, and the summer programme of open-air cinema and dance getting into its stride.

Sun 12: Del Sol Singers Summer Concert, 📍The Victoria and Albert, 19:30.
A summer concert from the Del Sol Singers, an easygoing hour of familiar songs. Free.

Mon 13: Cine de Verano, "Flow", 📍Parque Botánico Orquidario, 22:00. One for anyone with children or grandchildren around this summer: a free, family-friendly film in the open air, a lovely way to keep the little ones happy once the heat of the day has passed. The season opens with Flow, the wordless, award-winning animation about a cat surviving a flooded world (no dialogue, so no language barrier). A new film screens each Monday through the summer. Minecraft, Jurassic World, How to Train Your Dragon and Lilo & Stitch are all coming up, shown in Spanish.

From Tue 14: Bailes de las Noches de Verano 2026, various venues, 21:30.
The town's summer dance season opens. Every Tuesday through to mid-September, students from Estepona's dance academies take over a public square or park for a free open-air performance. First up on the 14th: a showcase of styles at the 📍Plaza del Reloj. A lovely, low-key way to spend a warm Tuesday evening. Free.

Cursos y Talleres de Verano 2026: enrolment closes Fri 10 July. If last week's mention caught your eye, the town hall's summer courses are open for sign-ups until Friday, through the cultural office.

Not such a quiet week for live music after all: four local nights to note, plus the football on the big screens wherever you go. One even puts both on at once:

Thu 9 · Manilva: Laura Carter, 📍The Quays Irish Bar, Puerto de la Duquesa, from 21:30. Free. On tonight, as this lands: a big-voiced singer who reliably gets the room singing along, down at the Duquesa port. A good way to kick off the weekend, with food served alongside. Book a table (652 271 436).

Fri 10: Patricia Roe, 📍The Three Monkeys Bar, from 21:00. Free. A live night with singer Patricia Roe, and the neat part: they're showing the World Cup quarter-final on the big screens at the same time. Football first, then the music gets the party going, with food and drinks throughout. Best of both worlds, and worth booking a table (693 594 600).

Sat 11 · Manilva: Cabañas Duo, International Hits, 📍Duke, from 20:30. An easy evening of singalong covers at Duke in Sabinillas. Good food, good atmosphere, no ticket needed.

Sat 11 · Bel-Air: Rock N Roll Animal, 📍TARO Fresh Bar, from 19:30. A live piano-and-guitar duo running through classic rock, pop and AOR: think Queen, the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Dire Straits and Bryan Adams. TARO sits out at Bel-Air, right on the A-7 between Estepona and San Pedro, an easy drive for anyone in the urbanisations along that stretch.

For a bigger night, the week's headline music is up in Marbella, in Beyond Estepona ⬇️

The knockout rounds have thinned the field, and it's shaping up well for our corner of Europe. Spain, England, Norway, France, Morocco and Belgium have all come through the round of 16.

The quarter-finals begin on Thursday with France against Morocco. Then the two ties that will empty every terrace in town: Spain v Belgium on Friday, surely the pick of the round, and Norway v England on Saturday, with Erling Haaland's Norway, fresh off a double that knocked out Brazil, standing between the Three Lions and a semi-final.

Belgium got here carrying the goodwill of most of the football world, having beaten the USA 4-1 in a match overshadowed by FIFA suspending an American red-card ban after a phone call from President Trump. The reprieved striker played, did nothing of note, and all three host nations are now out. Draw your own conclusions.

An insider tip for Friday's Spain v Belgium: for the full experience, watch it at 📍QG Belgian Beers & Brasserie down in Puerto de la Duquesa. It's an actual Belgian brasserie, several screens, and when I was last there the place erupted at every chance at either end, not just the goals. Watching Spain take on Belgium in a room full of Belgians should be quite the atmosphere. Get there early.

By the time the next Insider lands, we'll know who's in the final.

Closer to home, plenty of bars around town will have the big games on. A few worth knowing:

🔗 Full official schedule here.

‼️Time for a quick poll, just tap your answer. With the quarter-finals upon us, I have to ask:

Remember that teaser up top? Here it is. Back in 2019, Estepona briefly became world news thanks to a slide. The council installed a 38-metre stainless-steel chute 🛝 connecting two streets on different levels, billed as the longest urban slide in Spain and a clever way to shave ten minutes off the walk downhill. It lasted exactly one day.

Videos of riders shooting off the end at alarming speed, and photos of grazed elbows, went round the world, and the town quietly closed it "for a safety review" less than 24 hours after the grand opening. The council insisted more than a thousand people had used it perfectly well, and helpfully posted rules: sit up, keep your arms in, and no going down two at a time.

The story might have faded, except that in 2023 the town opened its shiny new council building, complete with a metal slide between the fourth and fifth floors for staff to use. The opposition accused the mayor of turning Estepona into a bit of a joke. One detail the locals enjoy pointing out: both slides were unveiled just before local elections.

The markets that come round every week, so you always know what's on where.

Wednesdays · Mercadillo de Estepona. The big traditional one: fruit, veg, clothes, shoes and household bits at local prices. 📍Calle Francia / Calle Alemania, 9:00–14:00.

Sundays · Mercadillo de Puerto. A smaller, breezier affair by the marina: summer clothes, bags, jewellery and local art, with a coffee on the terraces after. 📍Puerto Deportivo, 9:00–14:00.

Sundays · Mercadillo Plaza de Toros. A flea market for antiques, collectibles and bric-a-brac at the bullring. One catch: it doesn't run every Sunday, so best to check before you head over. 📍Plaza de Toros, 9:00–15:00.

Thursday–Sunday · Summer Market. New for the season: around 30 stalls of crafts, food and attractions have taken over the seafront promenade for warm-evening browsing. Craft and food stalls run 19:00 to midnight at 📍Paseo Marítimo; the funfair attractions are open daily. On until 6 September.

Sundays · Mercadillo Rastro, Sabinillas. One of the coast's best-loved flea markets, with over 100 stalls: second-hand finds, antiques, vinyl and a growing row of local craft sellers. 📍Recinto Ferial de San Luis, 9:00–14:00.

Friday–Sunday 18:00–00:00 · Mercado del Mar, Sabinillas. A seasonal craft market right on the seafront: handmade goods, accessories and art under the stars. 📍Paseo Marítimo de Sabinillas (by La Noria), until 30 August.

There's plenty of music at home this week (see Live Music above), but the really big names are up the coast. Starlite Occident and Marbella Arena are both running hot, and the line-up is genuinely strong. All a short drive away.

A note on timings: at 📍Starlite doors open at 20:00 and shows start around 22:00; at 📍Marbella Arena doors are at 20:00 with last entry at 21:30, so don't arrive late.

Thu 9 July: Faithless, Marbella Arena. From 72,80€.
If you were anywhere near a dancefloor in the late 90s, "Insomnia" and "God Is a DJ" are stitched into your memory. Twenty-five years on, the British electronic pioneers are back with a big, immersive live show that doubles as a tribute to their late frontman Maxi Jazz. On tonight, as this lands.

Fri 10 July: Rick Astley, Starlite Occident. From 47€.
Yes, that Rick Astley, and no, you won't be let down. The voice that powered "Never Gonna Give You Up" turned out to be one of pop's great survivors, back at number one decades later and still delivering these songs with a grin. An unashamedly feel-good night of 80s singalongs.

Fri 10 July: Two Door Cinema Club, Marbella Arena. From 44,80€.
The Northern Irish indie band are marking 15 years of Tourist History, the debut that took "What You Know" and "Something Good Can Work" from a Bangor bedroom to festival main stages the world over. Bright, propulsive guitar-pop that hasn't aged a day. Support from Karavana.

Sat 11 July: Elvis Crespo, 📍Starlite Occident. From 35€.
The voice behind "Suavemente", one of the most-played merengue tracks ever recorded, makes his Starlite debut. Expect a hot, high-energy night built for dancing, marking 20 years of the album that made him a household name across the Latin world.

Mon 13 July: Jean-Michel Jarre, 📍Starlite Occident. From 69€.
A true pioneer of electronic music, half a century on from Oxygène and still without equal. Jarre made his name with vast open-air spectacles that broke world attendance records, so catching that sound and vision in Starlite's intimate quarry setting is a rare thing indeed.

Tue 14 July: Anastacia, 📍Starlite Occident. From 35€.
A huge voice in a small frame, as she once put it. The powerhouse behind "I'm Outta Love" and "Left Outside Alone" brings her self-styled "sprock" blend of soul, pop and rock, delivered with the kind of belting live vocal that reminds you why she sold out arenas across Europe.

Things further out, so you can plan ahead:

Thu 16 July: Virgen del Carmen, Estepona.
The town's patron saint, honoured with a seaborne procession: her image is carried from the Iglesia del Carmen down to the water and out along the coast on a flotilla of decorated boats. One of Estepona's most moving traditions. More on this next week.

Fri 17–Sun 19 July: Casares Costa Feria · Manilva side.
Three days of proper summer feria: parade, coronations, live acts, DJs and fairground rides, out at the 📍Casares Costa fairground.

Thu 23 July: Una Noche en la Habana, 📍Plaza de Toros, 22:00. 18€.
The Bernáldez Latin Jazz Orchestra bring 1950s Havana to the bullring, with classics like Guantanamera and Lágrimas Negras. A night made for singing and dancing.

And looking further ahead, book now:

Sat 15 Aug: Sergi Polo, "English Stand-Up Comedy", 📍Teatro Auditorio Felipe VI. 22€.
Barcelona-born, London-honed comedian Sergi Polo brings a full show in English, built for the expat crowd. He's played the Comedy Store in London and the Comedy Cellar in New York, and was a BBC New Comedy Award finalist. I'm flagging this unusually early because tickets are already selling fast, so don't leave it too long.

And that's the week. The Feria wraps up on Sunday, the World Cup keeps the bars busy, and the summer programme settles into its stride, with open-air cinema on Mondays and dance under the stars on Tuesdays. Plenty on, from the fairground to the seafront.

Next week I'll bring you the full story of the Virgen del Carmen, Estepona's great seaborne procession, plus everything else worth knowing for the days ahead. Until then, get out and enjoy it, and hit reply if there's something I've missed. I read every one.

Stay cool,
Stefan