Malaga's most international village: life beyond the Costa del Sol

When Dawn Smith traded the corporate grind of UK sales management for the hills of Malaga two decades ago, she was searching for a slower pace of life for her young family.

What she found in Alcaucín - a picturesque village hidden away in the Axarquía - became something much bigger - a thriving micro-economy powered by international ambition.

Today, Smith's boutique sits in the heart of a village where the traditional rhythms of rural Andalucía blend seamlessly with global enterprise. Stroll along the main street and you'll find British-Belgian bars staffed by Dutch and Romanian expats, a hair and beauty salon run by UK stylists and an Indian restaurant where the kitchen operates on traditional Punjabi hospitality - offering board and lodging to its Pakistani and Moroccan staff. Far from the cliché of isolated expat enclaves, Alcaucín's international population has integrated deeply into the fabric of daily life.

In fact, almost a third of the 525-strong local workforce hails from outside Spain - a reality so pronounced that even local politics has gone global.

Dutch national Wendy Voorhaar originally moved to the region as a teenager; her family was seeking a warmer climate for her father's health. Twenty years later, she serves as Alcaucín's councillor for tourism, helping navigate municipal paperwork and bilingual social media for the town hall.

Although her brother has returned to the Netherlands, Voorhaar ended up staying in the village, where she has started her own family and then got involved in politics: “I knew the woman who is now the mayor [Ágata Noemí González Martín] and she asked me if I'd like to help her with tourism matters. There are lots of expats living here,” explains Voorhaar.

She says she wants to stand for election again in the next term of office because her work - which consists mainly of helping others -makes her happy.

“If you go to another country and don't speak the language, everything is very difficult. So I'm very happy to be able to help them.”

Voorhaar notes that many nationalities live together in the town and believes that all the residents get on very well now that they have adapted to each other's pace: “Everything is more peaceful and relaxed here, perhaps because of the climate, so you have to try not to get frustrated because perhaps things take a bit longer or are a bit more of a struggle here. We've also noticed that more and more foreigners are trying to speak the language.”

To promote social cohesion, the council organised a multicultural festival, so that all communities could get to know one another and share their cuisines and folklore. After all, there are many different communities living side by side in its streets and neighbourhoods.

This mix is also evident within local businesses. Take the Indian Palace restaurant, for example, run by Sarbjit Singh Kaur - known to everyone as Sabi - who was born in India.

From there, his first destination was Germany, where he worked as a chef. When his contract there ended, he came to Malaga, where he had friends. And after working in several restaurants, he set up his own in Puente Don Manuel, where he works alongside his wife, Guadalupe Molina.

Their staff include a Moroccan, a Pakistani and two Spaniards. “We all get on very well together. The Pakistani and the Moroccan live with us; we're a family and we follow the Indian custom of providing workers with board and lodging,” the couple explain.

Sabi has already obtained Spanish nationality, having lived here for over a decade. Every year they travel to India, to the Punjab region where he is originally from, usually in November or December, when they close the restaurant, which, as well as customers, provides them with friends, particularly British ones.

Both Dawn Smith and her daughter Megan are self-employed. On this autumn Thursday, she has a steady stream of customers - mainly from abroad - flocking to her clothes shop, Divas Boutique, to which she has added a parcel collection point.

Megan occupies a small part of the premises, where she runs her holiday and long-stay rental business. The family moved to Alcaucín in 2005 after visiting a British friend who had already settled in the area.

Dawn used to work for a large company; she was head of sales, in charge of a huge team and under a great deal of stress. She needed a change of lifestyle and made the move when her daughters were four and six years old.

Dawn is still very busy now, spending her spare time helping to rescue abandoned dogs and shows SUR the 'Give a dog a home' Facebook page so that people can find out about it and get involved.

Her clientele are mainly British, with some Belgians too, though there's no shortage of Spaniards either, they say. And although her daughters' boyfriends are Spanish, their mother admits that her social circle consists mainly of her fellow Brits: “We English stick with the English, and the Belgians stick with the Belgians,” she explains.

The bar Entre Amigos is the closest thing to the United Nations. Not just because garlands of flags from a whole host of countries hang from the ceiling, but also because the owners, Vanessa Roberts and Kris Tirry, are British and Belgian, respectively.

Added to this is the fact that the staff include Poles, Dutch, Irish and Romanians. Daria Cerbu, who is 20 years old, is from Romania and has already spent almost half her life in Alcaucín. Her parents had arrived before her and are now employed at a bakery in the village.

“The atmosphere in the bar is really good. My best friend, who's English, works here, as does her boyfriend, who's from the Netherlands. And we get both Spanish and foreign customers here,” explains Cerbu, who also says with a laugh that the World Cup was experienced “intensely” in the bar, though without losing the camaraderie that reigns amongst the staff or the friendship amongst the regulars, despite the sporting rivalries.

Next to the bar and the boutique is a beauty salon, The Studio Hair & Beauty, where seven British staff work and where the clientele consists of a mix of their compatriots, as well as Belgians and some Spaniards.

Most, however, they admit, are from abroad, and what gives this away is that the staff do not speak Spanish fluently.

Deborah Robinson works at reception; she has been in Alcaucín for 28 years: she came here in search of a better life with her husband, a builder, and her son, who now works for an estate agent.

She has been working at the hairdressing salon for around 12 years. The owner is Sarah Balderson, who also runs another beauty salon in Torre del Mar. Her daughter Charley speaks to SUR while styling a client's hair: “Being a hairdresser is something I've always wanted to do. Life here is better than in the UK: it's lovely to see my children growing up in this environment, in such a beautiful area and, what's more, so close to the sea,” she explains.

Alcaucín also has two municipal employees of Moroccan origin. However SUR failed to catch up with them as they are swamped with work in the village. But their example goes to show that Alcaucín is a microcosm of the wider world, with workers from almost every corner of the globe.