Driving on the Costa del Sol has become such a pain that I often dread getting into my car.
This week alone I have witnessed three hair-raising incidents and a crash while driving between towns along the infamous A-7.
It’s no secret that the slip roads to join the motorway are a death trap by design, nevermind when drivers refuse to indicate, or simply pull out without a care in the world of what’s coming up behind them (public buses are the worst offenders for this).
But throw in a bunch of lost tourists (who now come all year round), or idiots racing in their rented sports cars, and you have a recipe for disaster.
I didn’t even bat an eyelid over this weekend’s story about a Glovo driver being hit by a van – who, in shock horror, allegedly veered onto the A-7 from a slip road without looking.
But while my road rage was once confined to the likes of the A-7, it seems there is no escape from traffic offenders these days.
The boom in tourist and resident numbers over the past decade has seen available parking spaces within municipalities dwindle.
One knock on effect is a rise of the infamous ‘double parkers’, who simply stop in the middle of the road and put on their hazard lights while nipping in to do some shopping or grab a coffee.
And now it seems more streets than ever have unofficial ‘parking attendants’ – a term I wield very loosely.
Essentially, men stand by rows of parking spaces all day and ‘guide you in’, before asking for a tip – which you feel pressured to hand over in fear of a revenge scratch on your car.
Not to mention an apparent surge in selfish Bentley and Mercedes drivers parking across two spaces (I counted four separate offenders in Marbella alone this week).
Of course, the coast’s traffic woes would practically vanish if there were a sufficient public transport network – in particular a train.
But don’t worry, if everything goes to plan and on schedule AND is approved, the Costa del Sol train will be up and running by the 2040s (I wouldn’t put money on that if I were you).
