You can tell the season has turned by what's starting rather than what's ending. A music venue kicks off its new season, a hometown guitarist launches a flamenco series, and the catwalk is already showing next winter's coats. Summer's programme is packing up; autumn's is just getting going.

Regular readers know I keep this letter close to home: Estepona and Manilva first, the neighbours now and then, Málaga practically never. This week I'm bending the rule, and I think you'll forgive me. The only official San Diego Comic-Con outside the United States is setting up an hour up the A-7, with a guest list that runs from the film and TV heroes of the 80s to the stars teenagers follow today, plus comics, anime and gaming in between. Whatever your age, someone on that list will be yours. There's one date to know before any other, and it comes round on Friday morning. Everything's just below.

Closer to home, the paseo turns into a small passport this weekend: a British afternoon on Saturday, a Ukrainian day on Sunday, both free and open to anyone who wanders past.

And a question to carry with you: what grows a few hundred metres from the beach in Manilva, gets picked every September, and has been part of the town's life for generations? The answer's further down.

Here's everything worth doing.

I flagged it last week and promised the full run-down, so here it is. The only official San Diego Comic-Con outside the United States returns to 📍FYCMA, Málaga from Thursday 1 to Sunday 4 October, with more than 300 hours of programme across film, TV, comics, anime, gaming and cosplay. The San Diego Comic-Con Málaga is a long day out from here, but if you grew up on The Lord of the Rings, or have a teenager who can name every One Piece character, it's a rare thing to have this close.

If I had four days there, this is where I'd be:

Thursday 1 is reunion day. Karl Urban and Aya Cash on The Boys and the pull of the anti-hero (Hall M, 14:30), Kevin Smith, Jason Lee and Michael Rooker looking back at Mallrats, and for anyone who watched Spanish TV in the 2000s, the Los Serrano cast back together (Auditorium 1, 17:30). Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka closes the day live in Hall M at 19:30.

Friday 2 leans towards anime. The live-action One Piece crew, Iñaki Godoy and Taz Skylar (Hall M, 12:30), then Cowboy Bebop director Shin'ichiro Watanabe (Auditorium 1, 16:00).

Saturday 3 is the busiest. Paul Bettany presents Marvel's VisionQuest in the Disney block (Hall M, 17:00), John Romita Jr leads a panel on how Spider-Man has been drawn over the decades, and the BBVA Cosplay Contest at 19:30 is where the costume crowd shows what months of work look like.

Sunday 4 is the one Tolkien fans will circle: Elijah Wood and Sean Astin, from the Shire to Málaga (Hall M, 16:15), followed by a Starship Troopers reunion with Casper Van Dien and Denise Richards (18:15).

Tickets: a four-day pass is 84,80€, children up to 12 37,10€, under-3s free, sold through Ticketmaster. Photos and signings with guests cost extra.

And for anyone who grew up with 80s television: two guests are there to meet rather than to fill a hall. Richard Dean Anderson, MacGyver himself (and Colonel Jack O'Neill in Stargate SG-1 for the next generation), is listed for Friday to Sunday, and Christopher Lambert, the original Highlander, for all four days. Both do signings and photo sessions, so check the agenda for their slots. A chance to shake hands with the man who fixed everything with a paperclip doesn't come round often.

Getting there: FYCMA's own car parks are part of the convention this year, so drivers use four free attendee car parks signposted from the Feria roundabout, a ten to twenty minute walk from the entrance. The calmer option: drive to Fuengirola and take the C1 train to Victoria Kent, the closest station to the venue. More in the how-to-get-there guide.

A week that swings between the catwalk and the peña, from a pop-up passport on the paseo to a dog day out in Casares Costa, with a hometown guitarist in the middle of it all. Free unless noted.

Thu 24 and Fri 25, 20:00 · 10th Estepona Fashion Week, 📍Orchidarium. Local shops send their autumn and winter collections down the runway at the Orchidarium, with a musical act to round off each evening. The finale is on Saturday, see below.

Fri 25, 18:00 · El Rincón Esotérico, 📍Paseo Marítimo, Duquesa. An open-air market with a difference: stalls on wellbeing, alternative therapies, artisan pieces and mystical curiosities along the seafront. One for the curious, or for anyone after an unusual gift.

Fri 25, 21:00 · Nada, 📍Teatro Auditorio Felipe VI. 22€. A comedy in Spanish by Álvaro Carrero, starring Pablo Puyol alongside Carrero himself: three friends stranded at the edge of the apocalypse, stuck on one friend's last wish that nobody can bring themselves to grant.

Fri 25, 21:30 · Flamenco at the Peña, 📍Peña Flamenca de Estepona. 12€. A full cuadro at the town's flamenco club: a singer, a guitarist and two dancers, in the room where local aficionados gather.

Fri 25, 21:30 · Flamenco Night at Mi Caseta, 📍Recinto Ferial. From 45€. A staged 90-minute flamenco evening at the fairground: song, guitar and dance, with a half-bottle of Manzanilla included and a dinner option on top if you want to make a meal of it. It runs every Friday through October, so if this week doesn't suit, there's still time.

Sat 26 and Sun 27, from 08:30 · Copa de Andalucía de Escalada, 📍Rocódromo Rogelio Pascual López, Manilva. The Andalusian lead-climbing cup opens its season on Manilva's climbing wall. Saturday belongs to the youngsters, from under-9s to under-17s, Sunday morning to the seniors and veterans. Watching climbers pick their way up an overhang is more gripping than it sounds.

Sat 26, 17:00 · Día Británico, 📍Paseo Marítimo, by the Monumento a la Peseta. Part of the town's Compartiendo Culturas series, where one resident community at a time shares its music, food and traditions with everyone else. Live music, dance and market and food stalls until 22:00.

Sat 26, 20:00 · Fashion Week finale: Estepona de Moda, 📍Orchidarium. The young designers' night. Eight finalists aged 18 to 35 from across Spain each send a six-look collection down the runway, a jury picks the winner, and DFlow Dance performs. Free, and there's a small tenth-anniversary keepsake for attendees while they last.

Sat 26, 21:00 · Daniel Casares, 📍El Taller de Arte. 27,65€. Estepona's own flamenco guitarist, born here in 1980, who has since shared stages and studios with names from Alejandro Sanz to Rosalía and recorded his own take on the Concierto de Aranjuez. He opens the new Ciclo Flamenco Íntimo, billed as top-level shows in a small, close-up room. A home fixture worth booking early.

Sun 27, from 11:00 · GuauFest, 📍Jardines del Rosario, Casares Costa. A free day out built around dogs (and the odd cat): pet stalls, activities, workshops and talks, going by one of the stallholders. Bring the four-legged member of the family.

Sun 27, 12:00 · Día de Ucrania, 📍Paseo Marítimo, by the Monumento a la Peseta. Sunday is the Ukrainian community's turn: a craft market and masterclasses from noon, traditional food from 13:30, and a gala concert at 17:00 with Ukrainian artists from along the coast and a charity raffle. Runs until 21:00.

Three shows under one roof at the Casa de las Tejerinas this week, which makes one visit go a long way. Two of them close on Wednesday, so if they've been on your list, this is the week.

A weekend with a sound for every hour of it: Cuban son early on Friday, southern rock after midnight, jazz and blues by the beach on Sunday afternoon and an Adele tribute to close it out. Sabinillas, the old town, Benavista and the Manilva coast all get a share. Free unless noted.

Fri 25, 20:00 · Amigos por la Música charity gala, 📍CIVIMA, Manilva. 5€ in advance, 7€ on the door. Sixteen performers, one stage and a good cause: copla and boleros, bachata and popular songs, all to help Christian Jesús pay for an operation he needs to breathe and eat normally. Advance tickets from 📍Más Que Letras and 📍Bar El Genal in Sabinillas and 📍El Rincón de Nelly in Manilva. Can't make it? There's a Fila Cero, a donation-only "row zero" for anyone who'd like to chip in from home.

Fri 25, 20:00 · Habana Vieja, 📍Huber Art & Food. 15€. Cuban son in Huber's small room, a band that has played here before. Past nights have needed booking a few days ahead, so it's worth calling early rather than turning up on spec.

Fri 25, 21:00 · Cassie, 📍The Victoria and Albert. A Friday-night set out in Benavista.

Fri 25, 23:30 · Whiskeria Tucson and Born Slave, 📍Louie Louie Live. 11€ in advance, 15€ on the door. Southern rock from Málaga with a Sevilla rock and metal band in support. Late, loud and made for the ones who like their Friday to run into Saturday.

Sat 26, 23:30 · The Rabbit Holes, 📍Louie Louie Live. Indie and rock, billed by the venue as the best of its kind in southern Spain. You can judge that one for yourself.

Sun 27, 16:30 · Elizabeth Zeder, 📍Chiringuito Almijara. Two hours of jazz and blues from a vocalist who works the coast, on a Sunday afternoon in Manilva.

Sun 27, 18:00 · Becky Lane & Boy Brons, 📍Rose & Thistle. Blues, soul and pop from a duo still fairly new around Manilva. Their last afternoon here went down well enough, by the pub's account, to earn a quick return.

Sun 27, 19:00 · Dr. No, 📍Estudio Padrón. The venue opens its new season with Eric Pozzo's band playing reggae, soul, funk and rock covers with a bit of personality, then an open jam session, then a barbecue. Bring an instrument if you play.

Sun 27, 21:00 · Laura Carter's Adele Tribute, 📍The Quays Irish Bar, Duquesa. Laura Carter is back at The Quays with her Adele tribute, and you know the shape of the evening before you sit down: expect the ones you'd hope for, from Hello to Someone Like You and Rolling in the Deep. Bring a friend, order a drink, and let the weekend end on a lump in the throat by the water in Duquesa.

Tue 29, 17:00 · Paul Hull, 📍Roman Oasis, Manilva. A Tuesday afternoon set in Manilva, and the venue isn't shy about it: if you haven't seen him before, this is the one to come to.

Music turns up elsewhere this week too: a musical or dance act every night at Fashion Week, live bands at Saturday's Día Británico and a Ukrainian gala concert on Sunday at 17:00, all on the free side of the ledger. Friday's charity gala at CIVIMA and the flamenco both live up in This Week.

Here's the crop from up top. Head up from the coast towards Manilva town and you'll pass something that surprises most people this close to the beach: vineyards. Manilva has grown Moscatel de Alejandría on the hills above the sea for as long as anyone in town can remember, a sweet, perfumed grape once laid out on drying beds for raisins and turned into sweet wines.

Every September the town still marks the harvest by treading grapes in the Plaza de la Vendimia and pouring the first must of the year for anyone who turns up. The vines are under pressure from building and thin margins, and a small local winery, Bodega Nilva, now farms an organic plot a few metres from the sea to help keep the tradition alive. If you want the full story, the 📍CIVIMA interpretation centre next to the Plaza de la Vendimia tells it, weekday mornings from 10:00 to 14:00.

You can see the place for yourself on Friday evening, when CIVIMA hosts the charity gala up in This Week.

So the next time someone says the Costa del Sol is all concrete, you know which hillside to point them to.

The markets that come round every week, so you always know what's on where. For something less regular, Friday's esoteric market in Duquesa is up in This Week.

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: 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.

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.

This week the neighbours arrive in one very large package, and it already has the top of the letter to itself.

Thu 1 to Sun 4 October · San Diego Comic-Con Málaga, 📍FYCMA, Málaga. Four days of film, TV, comics and cosplay, with panel seat reservations opening on Friday 25 September at 11:00. Tickets, picks and how to get there are all in the main story at the top.

This one needs no ticket, but it plays to small rooms in a hill village, so the thing to book is the date.

Fri 2 to Sat 10 October · Festival Nuevo Cine Andaluz, 📍Casares, the hill village. The longest-running festival devoted entirely to Andalusian film reaches its thirteenth edition: short films in competition on the opening Friday and Saturday evenings, then a week of features and documentaries, all free until the seats run out. And if you're up in Casares this weekend and walk into a film crew, that's the festival's express-shorts contest, with dozens of teams racing to shoot a film in the town's streets. Full programme nearer the time.

That's the week, from hobbits to harvest. If you're heading to Málaga, good luck with the Friday booking; if you're staying put, there's plenty on the doorstep. Spot something I've missed? Hit reply and tell me. I read every one.

Until next week.
Stefan