Somewhere between the last swim of the year and the first turrón, the Costa del Sol does something that never stops puzzling those of us from further north: it starts putting up the Christmas lights while the thermometer still reads like early summer. The forecast has the low twenties well into the weekend, and still the light frames are going up. If you grew up with Christmas meaning dark by four and a scarf you couldn’t take off, it can feel as if the decorations have turned up at the wrong party.

The season’s other early arrival is already on the supermarket shelves: the crumbly mantecado. It turns out to have a surprisingly tangled link to how this town got its name. More on that further down.

For now, the week itself: a magician from Hollywood’s most famous magic club, a weekend when the Palacio fills up with board games, and a free day of music and makers in the open air.

Here’s everything worth doing.

Sat 7, 20:00 · Jammes Garibo: New Magic Experience, 📍Teatro Auditorio Felipe VI. From 22€.

I held this one back for a couple of weeks so it could have the space it deserves. Jammes Garibo is a winner of Spain’s national magic award and a regular at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, the private club that is about as close as the magic world gets to a hall of fame. New Magic Experience is his reworked show, billed as packed with illusions he hasn’t performed before, and his speciality is the big stuff: large-scale illusions built for a full stage rather than card tricks at the table.

There’s a single performance, so there’s no “we’ll catch the next one”. It’s recommended from age 4, which makes it one of the rare Saturday nights out that works for grandparents and grandchildren alike. And if your Spanish stops at ordering coffee, don’t let that hold you back: magic needs very little translation.

One practical note: well over three quarters of the seats were gone at the time of writing, so if you want in, I wouldn’t leave it until Saturday morning.

A week with a bit of everything: a new exhibition, a charity quiz, two nights of very different music at the Teatro and the peña, and a weekend that belongs to games, makers and anyone who likes being outdoors in November sunshine. Free unless noted.

From Thu 5 · De la gestión al arte: Alice Brennhausen, 📍Casa de las Tejerinas. The title says it all: “from management to art”. Born near Hamburg, Brennhausen spent 27 years as a manager in French-speaking Switzerland, painting abstracts in what little spare time she had, then moved to the Costa del Sol at 60 to do it properly. Around thirty works, many large-format and built up with modelling paste, fabric and collage until they stand out from the canvas. Sala 2, until Tue 17. Tue to Fri 09:00 to 20:00, Sat 09:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 20:00.

Thu 5, 19:00 · AREME Quiz Night, 📍Gastropub Viceversa, Estepona Port. 3€ (2€ for members). On the evening this lands. Everything goes to local charities, and the organisers say they’ll save a seat for anyone coming on their own, which makes it a friendly first step if you’re new in town.

Fri 6, 20:30 · Sinfonía del terror, 📍Teatro Auditorio Felipe VI. The concert postponed last week now has its new date. The Banda Sinfónica Ciudad de Jaén plays a Stephen King tribute (It, Misery, Carrie) followed by classic film scores from Jaws to Psycho. The free invitations were all taken before the postponement, so this one is only for those who already have theirs.

Fri 6, 21:30 · Flamenco at the Peña, 📍Peña Flamenca de Estepona. 12€. A full line-up for a Friday night: José Tarasco singing, Gaspar Rodríguez on guitar and dancers Vanesa Cortés and El “Lias”. The peña is where local aficionados go, so expect a room that knows when to shout “olé”.

Sat 7 and Sun 8 · BGC Board Games Convention, 📍Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos. The town hall expects thousands of players from across Europe for a weekend of games fresh from Essen Spiel, the big German games fair. Publishers, designers signing copies, a library of games with guided play for families, a giant-games area and a contest for prototypes still looking for a publisher. Sat 10:00 to 21:00, Sun 10:00 to 18:00.

Sat 7, 12:00 · La Térmica Village, 📍Plaza del Ajedrez. A travelling day out from La Térmica, Málaga’s centre for contemporary culture: live music from lunchtime into the evening, a design and craft market, and drop-in workshops from customising a tote bag to making your own leather purse. Runs until 20:00, so you can wander in whenever suits.

Wed 11, 18:30 · Coloquio: Los cantes básicos del flamenco, 📍Centro Cultural Padre Manuel. An evening on the basics of flamenco singing ahead of International Flamenco Day, with flamencologist Aurelio Gurrea, guitarist Paco Javier Jimeno, singer Ana Fargas and students from the local cante workshop, rounded off with a short live performance. In Spanish. Space is limited, so book on 699 778 574.

Started earlier, still worth your time, and this week three of them bow out. Free unless noted.

New Orleans jazz, Britpop singalongs, a heavy metal tribute with costume changes and a homegrown rock veteran: the weekend leans loud, with a couple of quieter options if you’d rather hear yourself think. Free unless noted.

Fri 6, 20:00 · Red Trio, 📍Huber Art & Food. 20€. Guitar and vocals, sax and piano, and more than ten years of playing together. Their mix borrows the bounce of New Orleans marching bands, the speed of Django Reinhardt’s gypsy jazz and the melody of the early greats like Louis Armstrong.

Fri 6, 21:00 · Steve Palmer, 📍The 3 Monkeys. Oasis, the Stones, the Beatles, INXS, the Clash, Dire Straits and the Kinks. The bar recommends warming up your singing voice and bringing your best air guitar.

Fri 6, 21:00 · Lucy Idrisie, 📍The Victoria and Albert.

Fri 6, 23:30 · La Dama de Hierro, 📍Louie Louie Live. 12€ in advance (plus fees), 15€ on the door. An Iron Maiden tribute that takes the job seriously: masks, projections and the odd appearance by Eddie, the band’s zombie mascot. This time it’s the Fear of the Dark tour. Doors open at 22:00.

Sat 7, 19:30 · Cabanas Duo, 📍Duke Sabinillas · Manilva

Sat 7, 20:00 · Blue Stompers Jump, 📍Huber Art & Food. 15€. Jump blues with a bit of swagger.

Sat 7, 20:00 · DJ Richie Rich, 📍Algusto del Castillo · Manilva. Classics from the 70s, 80s and 90s, with a few from the noughties.

Sat 7, 23:30 · Rober Perdut, 📍Louie Louie Live. 8,80€. A fixture of the Spanish rock scene since the 90s, presenting his third album Circunvala with a band of seasoned players from the Madrid underground, saxophone included on some songs.

Also in the music column this week: La Térmica Village in Plaza del Ajedrez (Sat 7) has live sets from lunchtime, from a DJ through to dream rock and post-punk, closing with Depresión Sonora, who have played Coachella and Primavera Sound. Details in THIS WEEK.

Plenty of guidebooks will tell you the Phoenicians called this place Astapa. It’s a lovely story with one snag. The Astapa of the history books, the town whose dramatic last stand against Rome in 206 BC was recorded by the historian Livy, is generally placed inland, at Estepa in the province of Seville.

Estepona’s own name most likely comes from the Moorish Astabbuna. Before that, the Romans had two settlements on this stretch of coast, Salduba and Cilniana, and historians still debate exactly where each one stood. Remains near the mouth of the Guadalmansa are thought by some to belong to Salduba.

And Estepa? These days it’s best known as the home of the mantecado. So when you open your first box of crumbly Christmas biscuits this year, you’re holding a souvenir from the town whose ancient story keeps getting borrowed for ours.

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, 09:00 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, 09:00 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, 09:00 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, 09:00 to 14:00.

Most of this week’s action is on home turf, so the neighbours can wait. If you only pick one ticket this week, make it the magician at the Teatro.

Only one this week, and the thing to put in the diary isn’t the concert itself but the moment the tickets appear.

Fri 20 November, 21:00 · Concierto Extraordinario de Santa Cecilia, 📍Teatro Auditorio Felipe VI. Estepona’s municipal band honours the patron saint of musicians with its big concert of the year. Tickets become available on Tuesday 10 November at 11:00, and for a town band’s showpiece in a theatre this size, I wouldn’t wait until the afternoon.

That’s the week. If you see something on a poster that ought to be in here, hit reply and tell me. I read every one.

Until next week.
Stefan