ALTHOUGH local councils across the Costa del Sol have done a great deal to try to keep residents of their towns entertained following the release from lockdown, it does seem that English speakers have been rather ignored!

Quite understandably, no popular international artists are able to bring their tours to Spain (or much of Europe) due to the restrictions in flights and the reduced audience capacities so the bigger planned festivals such as Mare Nostrum and Starlite have had to turn to Spanish acts which makes financial sense.

Having said this however, there are a number of municipal auditoriums (at least two of which have been renovated in the past 12 months) which could host properly socially distanced events but little is happening.

There were the recent Blues Night and Celtic Night in Mijas  and this coming weekend the Benalmadena auditorium is also hosting a Festival of Legends event for the Red Cross but there is nothing else on the horizon.

The Costa del Sol is full of great quality tribute bands who cover the works of many English and American bands who would be delighted to have the opportunity to get before an audience and there are a number of promoters who would also happily become involved.

In some municipalities the Foreign Residents population which pay the same taxes as everyone else is quite significant and there are tourists, albeit in smaller quantities than usual, many of whom would enjoy a night out listening to music they know and understand.