Well, that was a week.

The Feria is packed away for another year, and the town hall puts it at close to half a million visits across the six days. Judging by the state of my feet, I contributed my share.

It was also a week the coast will remember for other reasons. The fire above Estepona and Benahavís last Thursday brought evacuations, a closed AP-7 and a lot of anxious hours. Further east, behind Los Gallardos and Bédar, it was far worse, and among those who lost their lives were long-settled foreign residents. People who had made the same move to Spain that many of you did. This is a what's-on letter, not a news bulletin, so I will leave it there. But it did not feel right to say nothing at all.

Life carries on, and today it does so in the most Estepona way there is. This evening the Virgen del Carmen goes down to the sea. If you have never seen it, this is the one.

There is also a World Cup that is nearly over. Spain are in the final, and Argentina join them after breaking English hearts in the last few minutes on Wednesday. By Sunday night we will have a champion.

Let's get into it.

Tonight, Thursday 16 July. Estepona and Manilva. Free.

Every 16 July, the patron saint of sailors and fishing communities is carried out of her chapel, through the streets and into the Mediterranean. It is one of the deepest-rooted traditions this coast has and one of the biggest nights in the Estepona calendar. If you came here for the real Andalucía rather than the version on the postcards, this is where you find it.

The day opens quietly, with a solemn Mass at 8:00 in the 📍Capilla de la Virgen del Carmen on Plaza Virgen del Mar.

The part you want to see starts at 19:30. The procession leaves the chapel, works its way through the old town by way of Calle San Roque and Calle José Luis Díez, and then out along Avenida de España to the Paseo Marítimo.

Somewhere along the seafront, it stops being a procession and becomes something else. The bearers walk her down the sand and keep going, into the water, until the sea is up around their chests and their clothes are soaked through. The Salve Marinera is sung. Then they lift her onto a waiting boat, and she heads out across the bay with a decorated flotilla behind her, horns and sirens going, before coming back to shore and returning home for another year.

If you want a spot on the sand, get there well before 19:30. The seafront fills up, and the stretch nearest the water goes first.

Manilva marks the day twice over, and each village runs its own programme from morning to well past midnight.

Sabinillas opens at midday with Mass on 📍Plaza Costa del Sol and the crowning of the children's queens straight after. The procession sets out at 20:00, a band in tow, and carries the Virgin down to the water. From around 22:30 the music takes over, live bands first, a DJ after, and it runs late.

Castillo de la Duquesa starts at 8:00, when a charanga band walks the village awake. Mass at 18:30, then the procession through the old streets and the embarkation from the harbour at 📍Puerto de la Duquesa. Music at 📍Parque del Huerto from 22:30, again until late.

Manilva is not done on Thursday, either. Saturday 18 July brings games for the children in the morning, a moraga in the evening (the traditional open-air sardine grill, and a very good reason to turn up hungry), and live music to finish.

One evening, three processions. Estepona at 19:30, Sabinillas at 20:00, Castillo de la Duquesa after its 18:30 Mass. They overlap, so you are picking one. Estepona is the biggest and will be the busiest. The two Manilva processions are smaller, more of a village affair, and both roll straight on into a night of live music afterwards. And if you are heading to Sabinillas, the medieval market is on the same promenade (see below).

An unusually full week, and an unusually broad one. Between Friday and Sunday alone you can have Vivaldi in the auditorium, motorbikes flying over the bullring, rugby on the sand and free bachata by the beach. Take your pick, or take the lot.

Already under way: Mercado Medieval · Manilva · On until Mon 20. Free.
The medieval market is back on the Sabinillas promenade, running from 📍Plaza de los Maestros down to La Colonia. Craft stalls, food, music, street performers and shows, open through the day and on into the evening. It started yesterday and stays until Monday, so there is no rush.

Fri 17, 10:00 to 13:00 · Dreamcatcher Workshop, 📍Las Brisas, near Estepona Golf.
A relaxed morning making your own Tree of Life dreamcatcher to take home, all materials and refreshments included, no experience needed. 25€ on your own, less per person if you bring a friend or two. Places are limited, so book ahead.

Fri 17, 19:30 · Feria de Casares Costa. Free.
Three days of feria on the coast, Fri 17 to Sun 19, at the 📍fairground behind the Casares Costa petrol station. It opens with a parade through Marina Casares, floats and a charanga band, then the crowning of the courts and the first live act of the weekend. Bands and a DJ every night after that, running late, with the fairground rides open all three days. A smaller, easier feria than Estepona's, and a good one to take children to.

Fri 17, 21:00 · Orquesta Filarmónica de Cámara de Colonia, 📍Teatro Auditorio Felipe VI. 17,60€. The Cologne Chamber Philharmonic makes its now-traditional summer stop in Estepona. The programme is a proper crowd-pleaser: Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Mozart's Divertimento K.137, Tchaikovsky's Nocturne and Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen, with Sergey Didorenko on violin and Christoph Jahn on cello. Tickets in advance through giglon.com, or at the box office from an hour before.

Fri 17, 21:30 · Flamenco night, 📍Peña Flamenca de Estepona.
Rocío Alcalá singing, Bonela Chico on guitar, Sheila López and Andreas Morales dancing. The peña is Estepona's flamenco club, founded in 1973 and one of around fifty federated peñas across Málaga province. Behind a plain brick front on Plaza Fuerzas Armadas sits a 150-seat room with a clear view from every table and, mercifully in July, air conditioning. José Mercé, Chano Lobato and Aurora Vargas have all sung there. Visitors are welcome, and it is worth going once.

Sat 18, 11:00 · XXXI Feria del Libro en Verano, 📍Paseo Marítimo. Free.
The summer book fair returns to the seafront and stays until 13 September, open 11:00 to 14:30 and 19:00 to 24:00. Thousands of titles, and around nine in ten of them priced at 5€ or under. There is an author signing every evening at 21:00, and the full schedule of who is appearing on which day is here. Worth a browse on a warm evening.

Sat 18, 19:00 to 21:00 · Classic car exhibition, 📍Estepona Marina. Free.
Club Turbo Élite brings owners and collectors from across Andalucía to the marina for two hours of chrome, and it costs nothing to wander through. Note the timing: the motocross at the bullring starts at 21:00, a short hop away. Slip away from the cars a little early and you have yourself an evening built entirely around engines.

Sat 18, 10:00 to 18:00 · Beach Rugby Tournament, 📍Playa La Noria, Sabinillas. Free. Rugby on sand, run under the Manilva Beach Costa Barbarians banner, with categories from under-10s up to veterans. It runs all day, so you can drop in for an hour and still see plenty. Fast, physical and a lot more watchable than it sounds.

Sat 18, 21:00 · Estepona Freestyle Motocross, 📍Plaza de Toros. From 20€.
The one I flagged back in Issue #2, and it has come round. VertiGO FMX turn the bullring into a freestyle motocross arena, with an international line-up that includes the reigning Night of the Jump nations champion and a Red Bull X-Fighters rider. VIP tickets get you trackside seats, access to the 19:00 practice session and a meet-and-greet at 20:00. No food or drink from outside, but there is a bar in the ring.

Sat 18, 22:00 · Dani J, "No Solo Salsa Concert", 📍Parque El Ángel. Free.
One of Spain's biggest bachata names, playing a free open-air concert by the sea as part of Estepona's Verano Cultural programme. Expect "Quitémonos la ropa", "7 Pecados" and "Rosas", and expect people to dance. Bring something to sit on and get there in good time.

Sun 19, 10:00 to 13:00 · Create, Laugh & Paint, 📍Las Brisas, near Estepona Golf. 55€. A guided two-and-a-half-hour canvas painting workshop, all materials included, finished off with a homemade vegan Indian lunch. Everyone is welcome, and you need bring nothing but yourself. Places are limited and booking is essential.

Sun 19, 20:00 · Gran Espectáculo Festival del Arte, 📍Plaza de Toros. 20€.
A show built around the two animals at the centre of rural Andalusian tradition, the fighting bull and the horse, and the art, music and craft that have grown up around them. If that is your thing, it is on your doorstep. If it is not, now you know.

Mon 20, 22:00 · Cine de Verano, "Cómo entrenar a tu dragón", 📍Plaza de la Juventud, Cancelada. The free open-air cinema, this week with the live-action How to Train Your Dragon. In Spanish, so a gentle workout for anyone practising. Note the venue: this one is in Cancelada, not at the Orquidario.

Tue 21 · Bailes de las Noches de Verano, 📍Parque Botánico Orquidario. Free.
This week's instalment of the town's free summer dance season is a Dance Therapy session, run by the social services and integration department and led by Inmaculada Chacón. It is billed as a workshop rather than a performance, so come ready to be invited in rather than to sit and watch. In the orchid park, on a warm evening, there are worse ways to be talked into dancing.

Five dated gigs of its own this week, and a great deal more music bolted onto everything else. The headline names, meanwhile, are all up the coast: Starlite and Marbella Arena are having one of their strongest weeks of the summer, with four big shows in five nights. They are down in Beyond Estepona.

Fri 17, 20:00 · Dimitri Skidanov Jazz Trío, 📍Huber Art & Food. 15€.
Worth knowing about Huber if you do not already: a gallery and a restaurant in one, in a restored 19th-century house on Calle San Antonio in the old town, with an Andalusian patio out the back. The exhibitions change monthly, the kitchen buys local and seasonal, and there is live music most weeks, usually jazz, flamenco or Latin. This Friday it is a jazz trio. Small room, so book ahead.

Fri 17, 23:30 · Muchachos, 📍Louie Louie Live. Free.
A three-piece with, by their own account, plenty of power, back at Louie Louie for a late Friday set. Free in, and the same room that has Glam Slam the night after, so if the marina is your Saturday, it can be your Friday too.

Sat 18, 21:30 · Voulez Vouz: The Best of ABBA, 📍The Quays Irish Bar, Duquesa.
An ABBA tribute night at the Quays: all the big hits, plenty of sing-along, and dancing once the tables are pushed back. Pull up a chair, have a meal and a few drinks first, then let the night go where ABBA nights always go. Booking advised.

Sat 18, 23:30 · Glam Slam, 📍Louie Louie Live. Free.
Craig on guitar, Trish on vocals, and a set that runs from Journey and Bon Jovi to Abba and David Guetta without apologising for any of it. Trish has sung backing vocals for Tina Turner.

Tue 21, 21:00 · Sami James, 📍H10 Estepona Palace. Free.
We featured him back at the Musa Cafe a while ago. This time it is an acoustic set on the hotel terrace out at the edge of town: old favourites and newer tunes over a coffee or something stronger. An easy way to spend a warm Tuesday evening.

And if it is music you are after rather than a particular act, the rest of the week is full of it. Both Manilva processions tonight roll straight on into live bands and a DJ until late. The Casares Costa feria has a band and a DJ every night from Friday to Sunday. And Dani J plays a free bachata concert at Parque El Ángel on Saturday. All three are up in This Week.

Five weeks, 104 matches, and we are down to the last two. This is the final outing for this block, so let us see it out properly.

The semi-finals: Spain are through, and they did not leave it in any doubt: a 2-0 win over France in Dallas that was as comfortable as the scoreline suggests. England will feel theirs for a while: 1-0 up and holding it deep into the second half in Atlanta, only for Argentina to turn it around inside seven late minutes and win 2-1.

Third-place play-off: Saturday 18, from Miami. Kick-off 23:00 here.
France against England. A late one, and the only match all tournament that nobody especially wants to be in, least of all two sides who came this far.

The Final: Sunday 19, from MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Kick-off 21:00 here.
Spain against Argentina: Yamal against Messi, the second star against another. Most of the coast will be behind La Roja, but there are enough Argentines here that you will see & hear them on Sunday. Find a screen and a crowd.

Where to watch it: In Estepona, the town hall is putting two giant screens up at the 📍Estadio Municipal Francisco Muñoz Pérez for the final on Sunday. Free, outdoors, and with several hundred people you have never met. Manilva is planning something too, though the details were not final at the time of writing, so keep an eye on the town hall's Facebook page for the latest.

For either final, most bars will have it on, and after five weeks you know which one is yours. A few reliable ones in Estepona:

And down in Manilva, you do not need a list. Head for 📍Puerto de la Duquesa: the restaurants right on the water are more for a long dinner, but a few steps back from the quay the bars cluster together, most with a screen, and with everyone out in the same spot it makes for a proper atmosphere on a big night.

People from Estepona are Esteponeros. That is the official version. Around the rest of the province, though, they have long been known by an older and far less dignified nickname: culitos mojaos, which politely translates as "wet little bottoms".

There are two stories about where it comes from. The kinder one is simply that this is a fishing town, and a fishing town's people spend a good deal of their lives with the sea lapping round them. The better one goes back to when Estepona was a serious producer of brevas, the early summer figs. To bring the fruit on faster, growers used to dab a little oil on the bottom end of each fig. Wet bottoms, ripe figs, and a nickname that has outlived the orchards.

So if a friend up in Marbella calls you a culito mojao this summer, take it as a compliment. You have been adopted.

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 to 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 to 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 to 15:00.

Thursday to 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 to 14:00.

Friday to Sunday 18:00 to 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.

(The Mercado Medieval on the Sabinillas promenade, on until Monday 20, is a one-off rather than a regular. It is covered up in This Week.)

Some weeks there is nothing out there worth the drive. This is not one of them. Four big names at Starlite in five nights, UB40 at Marbella Arena tonight, and a free comedy night in Sotogrande, all a short drive up or down the coast.

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 16, 20:00 · UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, 📍Marbella Arena. From 67,20€.
Four decades of reggae, and a set that will inevitably arrive at Red Red Wine and Kingston Town. On tonight, as this lands, if you can bear to miss the procession.

Sat 18, 20:00 · Amans World Comedy English Open Mic Night, 📍La Oficina, Sotogrande. Free. Amans World Comedy have been running open mics up and down the coast for a while; this is the first time they have brought one to Sotogrande. Lucy Amans hosts, with up to ten acts on the bill. Free to watch, free to perform, hat passed round at the end. If you have ever fancied trying five minutes yourself, the stage is open.

Starlite Occident, Marbella. The festival is having one of its strongest weeks of the summer:

Worth getting in the diary now. Some of these sell, and some are just evenings you will want to keep free. The free-and-just-turn-up events will land in This Week nearer the time.

Wed 23 July, 22:00 · Una Noche en la Habana, 📍Plaza de Toros. 18€. The Bernáldez Latin Jazz Orchestra take the bullring back to 1950s Cuba: Guantanamera, Lágrimas Negras, El Cuarto de Tula. Tickets through giglon.com.

Wed 23 July · Marbella: Kool & the Gang, 📍Starlite Occident, from 55€. The funk band behind Celebration and Get Down On It, still touring, still very much able to fill a room. Up the coast, but a proper name if it is your era.

Sat 26 July, 19:00 · Alba Moreno y Canelita, 📍Plaza de Toros. 25€. A flamenco festival pairing the bailaora Alba Moreno with the cantaor Canelita. Advance tickets on giglon.com, or at the bullring box office on the day.

Sat 26 July · Sotogrande: El Chasquido del Mantón, 📍Ribera del Marlin, 38€. An intimate flamenco piece performed at floor level with the audience gathered round, with the Sánchez sisters. A small room, so this is one where booking ahead actually matters.

That is your week, and the Virgen del Carmen is the heart of it. If you can get to the seafront while she goes into the water, even for ten minutes, do; it is enough to see why people have done this for generations.

One question, and I would really like an answer.

The Insider covers Estepona and Manilva properly, and heads over to the neighbours when something is worth the drive. So where are you reading this? Here in Estepona town, out in Sabinillas or Casares, up in the campo, along the coast in Sotogrande? Or somewhere else entirely, a second home you get to when you can, or back in your home country with this as your weekly window onto the coast until you return?

Either way, I would love to know. Just hit reply, a couple of words is plenty, and it really does shape what goes in here.

See you next Thursday.
Stefan