Well, that’s settled then. The clouds have rolled in, the umbrellas have come out of hiding and the beach towels are back in the cupboard. Autumn is here.

The calendar has noticed too. Things are a little quieter than in summer, but only a little: the town is turning its squares into stages for the weekend, a brand-new marathon runs along the coast on Sunday, and over in San Pedro the fair season gets a late encore.

And further down: a tree that has outlived an ice age, on a mountain that is slowly rusting.

Here's everything worth doing.

Estepona Vive sus Calles is back for its autumn edition, from Friday 9 to Sunday 11, with music, pocket-sized theatre and assorted extras spread across the squares of the old town. Free unless noted, and most of it needs no booking. Much of it is outdoors, so if the sky looks doubtful, check the programme before you set off.

Fri 9, 19:00 · Microteatros, starting at 📍Plaza San Francisco. Short plays performed close enough to touch, moving on every half hour to Casa de las Tejerinas, Plaza Blas Infante and the Paseíllo on Calle Real. Expect them to be in Spanish.

Fri 9, 19:30 · Love to Sing Choir, 📍Mirador del Carmen. 10€. The international choir, singing together since 2017, brings favourites from films and stage musicals, and every euro goes to the Emaús soup kitchen in Estepona. Tickets in advance from The Bookshop in Sabinillas, or on the door while they last.

Fri 9, 20:00 · Steven Anderton, 📍Plaza Casa Cañada, beside the Castillo de San Luis. Guitar, voice and classic rock, with Dire Straits, Santana and Springsteen on the setlist.

Sat 10, 22:00 · Seguridad Social, 📍Plaza del Ajedrez. The headline name of the weekend: a Valencian rock band formed in 1982 and billed as one of Spain’s most reliable live acts. Expect a full square.

Sun 11, 21:00 · Juan Santamaría: Coplas que van y vienen, 📍Plaza del Reloj. The singer from Ayamonte blends copla, fado and flamenco, and closes the weekend with a tribute to the Granada songwriter Carlos Cano.

There’s more in between: jazz in the Plaza del Reloj, flamenco at the Orchidarium, a gymkhana, an escape room and craft workshops. The full programme has the lot.

And on Sunday morning, the runners

Sun 11, 08:30 · Maratón Costa del Sol Estepona, 📍Estadio Municipal de Atletismo. Estepona’s first full marathon, with a half marathon on the same morning and the field capped at 2,000 runners as a self-styled “boutique marathon”. From the athletics stadium the route drops down to the promenade, heads east on the service roads towards Benamara and El Presidente, then turns back west along the coastal path past La Rada and the port towards Guadalobón. The promenade and the port are the easy places to cheer. If you’re driving that morning, expect closures along the route and allow extra time.

New art on the walls, a theatre legend and a flamenco club night carry the rest of the week. Free unless noted. Monday 12 is a national holiday, so expect some shops and offices to keep their shutters down.

Thu 8 to Wed 21 · Muestra de Arte Tijen Ercen, 📍Casa de las Tejerinas. Used coffee capsules, glass, ceramics and scrap metal reborn as large mixed-media pieces. The Marbella-based artist came to art after four decades in the pharmaceutical industry. Open Tuesday to Saturday.

Fri 9 to Sun 25 · City Jump, 📍Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos. 10,50€. A giant inflatable park with slides, obstacles and jumping zones, handy for visiting grandchildren on a wet afternoon. Thursday to Sunday in 50-minute sessions, plus the Monday holiday. Under-12s need an adult with them, and the adult needs a ticket too.

Fri 9, 21:00 · Magia Andaluza, 📍Orchidarium. Part of Vive sus Calles: Algeciras guitarist Salvador Andrades plays his own repertoire, joined by cajón, singer and dancer.

Fri 9, 21:30 · Noche flamenca at the Peña, 📍Peña Flamenca de Estepona. 12€. The town’s flamenco club puts on a new show with a full line-up: singer, guitarist and two dancers.

Sat 10, 10:00 · Jewellery Making Workshop, 📍Byoko Estepona. 49€. Two hours making three pieces of your own from semi-precious stones, pearls, beads and charms, with step-by-step guidance and a drink included. No experience needed; 49€ is an anniversary price for October.

Sat 10, 21:00 · El Brujo: Iconos o la exploración del destino, 📍Teatro Auditorio Felipe VI. 25,30€. Rafael Álvarez, known across Spain as “El Brujo”, delivers a comic monologue on fate in Greek tragedy. One man, a lot of words, all in Spanish: best for confident listeners.

Sun 11, 20:00 · Klaudya: Renacer, 📍Teatro Auditorio Felipe VI. Málaga soprano Claudia Teruel, this year’s winner of RTVE’s Aria: Locos por la Ópera, brings a show about persistence and the nerve to start over, with opera, zarzuela and Spanish song. Free, but you need an invitation: up to two per person from teatroestepona.com, no booking fee, while they last.

An exhibition in its last days and a flamenco night that has claimed every Friday in October.

Friday does the heavy lifting this week, from Dixieland at Huber to a late rock set at Louie Louie, and Saturday keeps it going. Free unless noted.

Fri 9, 20:00 · New Orleans Swing Dixie Jazz, 📍Huber Art & Food. 15€. Trad jazz and swing, part of the venue’s own music programme.

Fri 9, 20:00 · Rock n Roll Animal, 📍Taró Fresh Bar · Bel-Air. A full night of classic rock, with cocktails and home-made tapas.

Fri 9, 21:00 · Steve Palmer: Rock Anthems, 📍The Victoria and Albert. Big rock singalongs, as the title promises.

Fri 9, 21:00 · Aaron, 📍The 3 Monkeys. Friday-night live set with food and drinks. The bar says tables go quickly, so book (693 594 600).

Fri 9, 22:00 · DJ Jasimo, 📍Coral by OB. A DJ rather than a band: the dance club in the port promises big beats and cocktails until late.

Fri 9, 23:30 · Dirty Vintage, 📍Louie Louie. 8,80€. The late slot, for night owls.

Sat 10, 20:00 · Flamenco at Huber, 📍Huber Art & Food. 15€. Saturday’s turn in the venue’s music programme goes to flamenco.

Sat 10, 21:00 · Stelvis, 📍Duke · Manilva. An Elvis tribute in Sabinillas, with dinner if you want it.

Sat 10, 23:30 · Matt Woods, 📍Louie Louie. Americana, folk-rock, a touch of country, depending on whom you ask. Saturday’s late set at the rock bar.

More music elsewhere in this issue: the Love to Sing Choir, Steven Anderton, Seguridad Social and Juan Santamaría in the Vive sus Calles weekend (see the top), plus the Joaquín Castellano Jazz Quartet on Sat 10, 20:30 in the 📍Plaza del Reloj. Opera and zarzuela come with Klaudya on Sunday, and Cuban son is over in Marbella on Thursday (see Beyond).

Look up from Estepona on a clear day (this week, admittedly, a big if) and the mountain behind town has a reddish tint. That’s not the light. Sierra Bermeja, the “vermilion range”, is made of peridotite, rock pushed up from the Earth’s mantle. It’s rich in iron, and where it meets the air, it rusts.

Peridotite is hard going for most plants. And yet on the upper slopes of Los Reales, the summit at around 1,450 metres and only about eight kilometres from the sea, grows a dense forest of pinsapo, the Spanish fir.

The pinsapo is Andalucía’s only native fir, a survivor stranded on a handful of mountains since the last ice age ended roughly 15,000 years ago. It grows wild in just three protected areas: the Sierra de las Nieves, the Sierra de Grazalema, and here. Los Reales is the only one where it stands on peridotite, and some of its trees are thought to be around 300 years old. The big fire of September 2021 reached part of the forest; how much burned is still argued over.

To see it for yourself, take the road from Estepona towards Jubrique and turn left at the Puerto de Peñas Blancas for the Paraje Natural Los Reales de Sierra Bermeja. The short Paseo de los Pinsapos walks you straight through them. After this week’s rain, it should smell wonderful.

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.

Cuban nights in Marbella and a fair that saves itself for the end of the season.

Thu 8, 20:00 · Una Noche en la Habana, 📍Palacio de Congresos Adolfo Suárez · Marbella. 24,20€. On the evening this lands, the Bernáldez Latin Jazz Orchestra revisits the Havana of the 1950s and 60s with classics like El Bodeguero, Guantanamera and El Manisero. Singing and dancing along is part of the plan.

Tue 13 to Mon 19 · Feria de San Pedro Alcántara, 📍Recinto Ferial La Caridad · San Pedro. San Pedro’s fair runs late because it builds up to the feast day of its patron saint, San Pedro de Alcántara, on 19 October. Expect the classic feria mix of casetas, fairground and long nights.

All quiet on the radar this week. I’ve checked twice and given the dish an extra spin for luck: nothing on the horizon that needs you to book anything today.

That’s the lot for this week. If you spot something I’ve missed, hit reply or send it in. Every tip gets read.

Until next week.
Stefan