1970–1974

When it rains in Spain

As is well known, things did not quite turn out as planned.

Incidentally, it has been a source of wonder and astonishment for members who have been in their apartments in Playa Tropical in the summer and late summer, and especially those who have reserved and paid for apartments in Block C, that no ground has seemingly been broken yet for Block C.
The administration has stated that the reason was that some official permits were missing, which they were nonetheless certain would arrive before the end of the year.

1970

At Club Andalucia's general meeting on 14 September 1970 it was decided to increase the subscription by kr. 10 so that the subscription would henceforth be kr. 35 per year per apartment-owning family.
Wholesale merchant E. Pontoppidan was elected as a board member in place of senior police officer P. Ankjærgaard, who wished to resign.

In November 1970, the managing director, Eduardo Ruiz Garcia, stated that they had planned to start Block C in February/March 1971 and that this block would then be ready for occupancy in April 1972.

He also stated that hot water taps had now been installed in the kitchens.

He also explained the prices for gas, water and electricity:

Gas consumption is read on the apartment's gas meter in a number of cubic metres, converted to kilos by multiplying by 2 and paid at 20 pts. per kilo.

Hot water consumption is read on the water meter and paid at 20 pts. per cubic metre.

Electricity consumption is read on the apartment's electricity meter and paid at 3.5 pts. per kw.

Apartment cleaning is paid at 30 pts. per working hour.

CuriosityAs a curiosity, it can be mentioned that in 1970 you could take a taxi from Malaga airport to Playa Tropical for 90 kr.
– in 2010 the same trip costs 90 €!

1971

On 1 August 1971, Club Andalucia had gradually reached 145 members.

At Club Andalucia's general meeting on 19 Sept. 1971 it was decided that the subscription should remain kr. 35.
The chairman wished to resign.
Elected as the new board member was
Executive secretary, Master of Laws Bo Lütze, who took over the chairmanship.
State-authorised accountant Hans Chr. Gejlsbjerg continued as secretary and
Wholesale merchant E. Pontoppidan as treasurer.
Re-elected as auditor was manufacturer Hadsund,
(who had been my neighbour in Hørsholm since 1966 without me knowing that he had anything to do with Club Andalucia.
I only became acquainted with Playa Tropical and the Club in 1973 after having played whist with Hans and his wife once a week for 2 years, alternating between his home and ours – we lived within walking distance of each other.
Hans later lured us along to Almuñécar and then we were hooked!).

On 21 October 1971, a new restaurant opened right next to Block A.

This restaurant, El Meson, can be highly recommended. It offers unusually good food – beautifully presented – at particularly reasonable prices. The daily 3-course menu (free choice between the menu's 4 starters, 2 main courses and 4 desserts) costs only 100 pts. including bread, ample wine and with service that is exceptionally proficient and very amiable.
The restaurant also includes a nice bar with all kinds of drinks and where tapas are served, provided you buy a glass of draught beer for 8 pts.
There is no doubt that this new restaurant will be a major attraction for the entire area.

Here at the end of 1971

rumours are now circulating that the current municipal council in Almuñécar wishes to promote the construction of a coastal road out to us, so that one no longer needs a mountaineer's certificate to travel on foot between the town and Playa Tropical. This will probably help to civilise the Playa Velilla beach, which we now almost have to ourselves – to the sorrow of some and the joy of others.

At the turn of the year 1971/72, the annual period fees for the monthly periods were increased from 1000 pts. to 2000 pts. and the 14-day periods increased from 1000 pts. to 1250 pts.

As it has turned out that the operation of the consumption meters for gas, water and electricity has been too expensive – with many repairs – it was decided in April that payment for gas, water and electricity should henceforth be settled without meters at a fixed amount per day the apartment was used, calculated at cost price.

1972

On 31 July 1972, Club Andalucia had approx. 150 members and at the general meeting on 9 October the membership subscription was increased to kr. 45 for the financial year 1972/73.
The board continued unchanged.

MilestoneIn December 1972 Block C was declared fully completed!

1973

In early 1973, the acting director of the administration, Eduardo Ruiz Garcia, announced that he was resigning from his position to take over a major position in Granada.
Succeeding him as new director was Manuel Fernandez Rodrigues, who had previously been a bookkeeper and cashier at El Meson and who was later called Manolo. He was indeed a nice man whom Club Andalucia came to know as a competent, conscientious and interested director with whom the best cooperation was hoped for in the future. 🤔

CuriosityOn 28 Feb. 1973 Club Andalucia received a letter from Playa Tropical reading:
Send money express – no heating – no hot water. 😮

On 31 July 1973, Club Andalucia had 183 members.

In August, nothing has happened yet regarding the coastal road – unfortunately or fortunately depending on one's attitude to it – but the Spaniards say it will come "mañana".
In Almuñécar, a decorative square has been created with a statue of a fisherman.

On 21 September 1973, Club Andalucia held another general meeting,
where the entire board was re-elected and the membership subscription of kr. 45 remained unchanged.
Auditor E. Hadsund did not wish for re-election.
Director Niels Holme, Hørsholm, was elected as the new auditor.

The number of members was now 190.

In the autumn of 1973 the swimming pool was closed by the authorities,
because an initial mistaken attempt was made to get it approved under the regulations for pools shared by private families, whereas it should have been approved under the stricter regulations that apply to hotel swimming pools. Getting this approval has required quite a few alterations and new acquisitions, including ladders, three showers instead of one, acquisition of an automatic chlorine mixing system, and an oxygen apparatus for use in the event of any accidents.
The weather in the second half of November and the first week of December has, however, been so magnificent that one could swim in the sea every day.

1974

On 20 January 1974, the homeowners' association, "Comunidad de Propietarios de Apartamentos Playa Tropical y Playa Velilla", was established

and a president was elected for each of the 3 blocks, which became
Block A, Hans Chr. Gejlsbjerg, Hørsholm, Denmark
Block B, Antonio Lopez Villén, Granada, Spain
Block C, Lawyer T. Parra, Madrid, Spain

On 2 and 3 February 1974, the Danish president, Hans Gejlsbjerg, participated in a presidential meeting in Almuñécar,
from which he reports on 4 February:

Having returned home from the presidential/board meeting in the newly formed homeowners' association for the 3 blocks at Playa Velilla, I shall briefly state the following:

The three presidents were informed about the meeting and had originally agreed to participate. However, the president from Madrid was prevented from attending, but the meeting was carried out by the other two presidents, who on behalf of the entire board agreed on all essential questions in connection with handling the administration of the three blocks.

It dawned on us that Playa Tropical S.A., following the just-concluded general meeting – which was arguably provoked into being held by a Spanish group of apartment owners – intended to withdraw from the administration, which was somewhat contrary to the perception the board of Club Andalucia, Denmark, had immediately prior to the general meeting.

As a result, we are now launching a completely new administration for the association of apartment owners. This administration can only be responsible for the period after 1 January 1974. Playa Tropical S.A., which has stipulated the right of administration for the period prior to 1974, has continuously set fees for this, which this company must be entitled to continue collecting from owners who as of 1 Jan. 1974 may be in arrears, just as the company must bear all expenses concerning the period up to 31 December 1973.
The transition of the administration must take place through a hand-over procedure, where Playa Tropical S.A. is demanded for any compensation for lack of maintenance etc., and where the homeowners' association must reach an agreement on the terms for taking over the administration office, staff, bus etc.

We are starting with cleared bookkeeping accounts and zero liquidity. Consequently, capital must be injected into us immediately, which can only happen by collecting contributions from the apartment owners.

We have decided to issue a call for contributions to the homeowners' association at 30% of the administration fees applicable for 1973, i.e., 375 pts. for 14-day periods and 600 pts. for monthly periods. These contributions must all be paid no later than 15 March 1974 – otherwise the enterprise will in all probability have to suspend payments.

These contributions will provide the homeowners' association with working capital of approx. 1 million pts., which will be necessary to smooth out liquidity needs and liquidity coverage from operations.

To achieve a balanced budget for 1974, it is necessary to increase the administration fees by 30%, so that with effect from 15 February 1974 they will be:

½-month periods at 1,625 pts.
1-month periods at 2,600 pts.

As a result of price increases, increased fees have been adopted:

Cleaning, 75 pts. per hour

Hot water, 15 pts. per occupied day
Gas, 15 pts. per occupied day
Electricity, 10 pts. per occupied day

Minibus, 20 pts. per person from the beach to Almuñécar and vice versa,
10 pts. per person from the top of Los Piños to Almuñécar and
vice versa.

We have implemented measures to ensure proper management, including agreeing on ongoing supervision by one of the presidents, Mr Villén, who can be described as truly business-savvy. 🤔
Following this meeting, which lasted from 19:00 on 2 February to 07:00 on 3 February 1974, I look forward to the decisions hopefully resulting in satisfactory service for the residents.

When going to Playa Tropical in 1974

it was most common to fly to Malaga and from there either take the bus from Malaga to Almuñécar and then a taxi to Playa Tropical, or take a taxi from the airport directly to Playa Tropical.
The bus journey took about twice as long as the flight from Copenhagen to Malaga, and you could run the risk of Spanish passengers bringing both chickens and ducks along. You drove along a very winding road through the mountains – an exciting and at times dramatic journey.
If you chose to take a taxi at the airport, which still cost 90 kr. for a trip to Almuñécar, it took about 3½-4 hours to arrive.
You had to drive up over Los Piños and down the road behind Playa Tropical, as the coastal road was just a gravel road that ended right after Las Gondolas where the mountain went all the way out into the sea.
There was no bridge over Rio Verde, so for several years – even after the road was pushed through – you had to walk or drive through the water if you wanted to get to the other side. Incidentally, it was not uncommon for cars to stall in the middle of the river and have to be towed free by a recovery truck.
Most of the time, however, there was so little water in the river that it was used as a road, but when it had rained heavily up in the mountains it could not be crossed and you had to take the trip over Los Piños if you needed to go to Almuñécar from Playa Tropical and vice versa.
Since the riverbed was used as a dumping ground by people living along the river, you could see all kinds of rubbish tumbling down the rushing river at the river mouth.

Of interest to those driving to Almuñécar by car, it can be reported that now in the autumn of 1974 it should be possible to drive on a motorway from Barcelona to Valencia, as this stretch has reportedly opened quite recently.

On 29 August 1974 Sten Jacobson announced
that the road from Playa Tropical was now ready for traffic,
though not yet paved. Furthermore, a bridge had been built over Rio Verde, but not as part of the coastal road.
Even a moderately able pedestrian can now reach the town on foot in about 20 minutes. This is obviously a great advantage for the many apartment owners who do not have a car available during their stay down there. Unfortunately, there is still the catch that there is no bridge connection across the river, but for most of the year pedestrians can manage across relatively dry-shod.
The reason for the missing bridge is said to be disagreement on a financial matter between the contracting company building the road and the landowner who owns the plot where the river crosses the road. It seems certain, however, that the problem must find a solution, partly due to the "Marina" planned and allocated space for between Playa Tropical and the town. So the bridge will probably arrive "mañana" – i.e. within some time – yes, perhaps already within a few years!

This year in the autumn and winter season of 1974/75 the weather has been quite fantastically good in Almuñécar, occasionally even with genuinely warm evenings. Thus, the last 3 days of November measured 23 degrees at 22:00. This also means that the area – apart from our selfish holiday interests – is in dire need of rain, as it has not actually rained properly since March – April last year.

At the end of 1974, the municipality of Almuñécar began collecting a one-off tax on the increase in land value from the time between Playa Tropical S.A.'s purchase of the land in 1968 and the apartment owners' purchase of their apartment from Playa Tropical S.A. It was an unpleasant surprise that unfortunately could not be avoided. The amount was calculated at 1,536 pts.

With only 14 days' notice, the president of Block B, Villén, had convened an extraordinary general meeting of the Playa Tropical y Playa Velilla Homeowners' Association to be held on 2 November 1974

without notifying in advance either Club Andalucia or the president of Block A, Hans Gejlsbjerg, who was only informed about this upon his arrival at Playa Tropical on 15 October for his usual holiday visit. He telephoned the rest of Club Andalucia's board the same day, who considered such short notice unacceptable for the future.
(According to Spanish law, only 6 days' notice is required!)
Rumours circulated that an attempt was being made to carry out a "coup" with the purpose of pushing through a changed distribution of burdens to the detriment of, among others, Club Andalucia's members by letting the winter periods bear a larger share of the common expenses than the summer periods, which are largely owned by Spaniards.
The short notice was also considered an attempt to prevent club members from making their influence felt at the general meeting via the collection of proxies – a collection that was immediately initiated.
Club Andalucia would not willingly allow itself to be cut off from influence down there, and Hans Gejlsbjerg went to the general meeting advocating the following with all the strength that members and others had procured through the approx. 650 proxies collected:

1. No change in the distribution of burdens between winter and summer periods.

2. No increase in the administration fee this year, as this comes after the large increase in February and the unreasonably large increase in the daily rates for gas, water and electricity etc. associated with it.

3. Energetic collection of receivables from reluctant payers.

We guarantee that our members' interests at the general meeting will be looked after in a secure manner by Hans Gejlsbjerg.

Bo Lütze
Chairman of Club Andalucia

A brief notice sent from Almuñécar on 3 November 1974 from Hans Gejlsbjerg reveals the following:

It became a very turbulent general meeting with people talking over each other and shouts and threats swirling in the air.

In short, the result was:

1. The budget for 1975 drawn up by Hans Gejlsbjerg was adopted, President Parra's budget was rejected.

2. Unchanged administration fee for the coming year as well as unchanged distribution of burdens between winter and summer periods, though an increase in the daily payment for gas, water and electricity from 40 pts to 45 pts was adopted.

3. The new bylaws for the homeowners' association drawn up by Gejlsbjerg and approved by Club Andalucia could not be adopted, as Spanish law requires 100% agreement for amendments to bylaws. Thus, for the time being, the bylaws drawn up by Playa Tropical S.A. apply,

4. though with the modification that voting rights at the association's competent assemblies do not belong to the apartment representatives appointed by Playa Tropical S.A., but rather to the individual period owners.
(Today (2010) we know, however, that only apartment representatives have voting rights according to Spanish law for homeowners' associations like Playa Tropical).

5. The president of Block C, Señor T. Parra, wished to step down.

6. No auditor was elected.

7. All period owners must have paid their administration fees no later than the first day of the period. Those in arrears will not be granted access to the apartments.

This general meeting became a regular victory for Club Andalucia, and a heartfelt thank you is extended to everyone who backed us so strongly that Gejlsbjerg secured a convincing majority through proxies.
(If Spanish law had been applied back then, only proxies coming from apartment representatives would have been valid – but those who ought to have known apparently did not know that).

1974 was a busy year for Hans Gejlsbjerg,

as in addition to having participated in the two mentioned general meetings at Playa Tropical, he also managed to

1. with the help of the Spanish Ministry of Tourism, get the swimming pool reopened, which had been closed for almost a year.

2. get "El Meson" to sort out its kitchen waste problem in a somewhat more hygienic manner than simply channelling it across the road in a ditch.

3. get a tiled walkway with a couple of benches established between the entrances to Block B and Block C.

4. have made proposals with drawings for an administration office in one of the halls in Block B or Block C, which would save the heavy expense of renting the apartment that had previously been used as an office.
(As is known, this became in Block C).

5. have drawn up a proposal for a set of bylaws for Playa Tropical, which it transpired could never be adopted at a general meeting, as adoption would require 100% support from all period owners, which cannot be achieved.

Milestone The year 1974 was also the year when the family Irene and Preben Mikkelsen was lured to Playa Tropical by Hans Gejlsbjerg for the first time, of course resulting in us immediately having to acquire an apartment, for which we received the deed from the notary in Almuñécar.

Do you have memories, pictures or club magazines from 1970–1974? Then we would love to hear from you.