The British invasion of the Costa del Sol began 64 years ago. To be precise, on 1 April 1962 the first ever scheduled flight between London and Malaga took off. The British European Airways (BEA) flight in a Vickers Viscount V 802 had a seating capacity of just 66 passengers.
A BEA Vickers Viscount [Wikipedia]
On board that inaugural flight were journalists and celebrities who were welcomed by the Spanish authorities and were shown fashionable places in the capital, such as Bar El Pimpi and Hotel El Pinar. They also visited the towns of Nerja, Ronda and Granada.
Beginnings of a phenomenon
According to Pilar Martinez, writing in Dairio SUR, the flight from London to Malaga took four hours, almost double the flight times of today. There were two flights a week to begin with.
"There was a rapid contagious effect," writes Martinez. "The airline Euravia, later to become Britannia Airways, started flights with its Super Constellation and a littl
e later a third airline, British United Airways (BUA), joined in."
Britannia, based at Luton Airport, was looking at introducing a new aeroplane to its fleet specifically for flights to southern Spain.
Its only condition was that flights would be from Luton to Malaga. The chosen plane was the British-built BAC 1-11, which we all grew to know and love.
A BAC 1-11 aeroplane [Wikipedia]
Spreading its wings
This expansion in the UK, led to Scandinavia and the USA pioneering charter flights, whose ticket prices were some 35 per cent lower than scheduled flights. Tour operators and travel agents jumped on the bandwagon and introduced the "package tour", whereby clients bought flights and hotel combined.
As a result between 1965 and 1970 the number of international travellers to the Costa del Sol increased by a factor of five and passed one million - 1,239,775 to be precise - the majority of them British. In 2025 figures for British tourists visiting the Costa del Sol reached almost 3.2 million.
The British enjoy the climate with more than 300 days of sunshine per year, the culture and leisure opportunities. It's an important market for the region's tourism.
[Daily Express]
Andalucia is home to some 77.000 British, mostly in Malaga province.
This was the seed for the later development of "low cost" airlines, like Ryanair, easyJet, Jet2, Vueling and German Wings.
A view from the rear galley
Tourism in Spain is its most valuable industry. With its climate, gastronomy, spectacular beauty, coasts, mountains and relatively cheaper prices, the country has everything going for it. That's why I have lived here for 17 years.
Links
Away Days on the Costa del Sol - Help me, Ronda
My Top 10 places to Visit around the Serranía de Ronda and...
OUR DAY OUT - on the Costa del Sol - Help me,...
What is a guiri? It's what the Spanish call us foreigners - but is it good or bad?
"Guiris" on the Costa del Sol [The Olive Press]
© The History Man
Thanks (sources and photos):
Alerta Digital, Daily Express, Diario SUR, Hosteltur, La Vanguardia, Paul Whitelock, Pilar Martinez, Secret Serrania, The Olive Press, Wikipedia, www.help-me-ronda.com
Tags:
1 April 1962, Alerta Digital, BEA, Britannia, Britannia Airways, BAC 1-11, BUA, Costa del Sol, Diario SUR, easyJet, El Pimpi, Euravia, German Wings, Granada, guiri, Hosteltur, Hotel El Pinar, Jet2, La Vanguardia, "low cost" airline, Luton Airport, Malaga, Nerja, package tour, Paul Whitelock, Pilar Martinez, Ronda, Ryanair, Secret Serrania, Super Constellation, The Olive Press, Vickers Viscount, Vueling, Wikipedia, www.help-me-ronda.com