Estepona Local Customs

During our morning walk along the Mediterranean shoreline of eastern Estepona on our second full day there, we came upon these fishers plying their trade from the shoreline on a small promintory. Usually, this favourite local method of passing the time is carried out later in the day as light begins to fade. These two appeared to be a grandfather and possibly one of his nephews judging from their age. The beach is fairly narrow here, but there was room enough for a couple of 4WD vehicles to make their way slowly along the shore to reach this point.

The fish of choice is usually Sea Bream, Mullet or Sea Bass and there is quite a technique to being successful. One thing to watch out for is the heavy lead weight on the lines that are cast far out into the water - you don't want to be standing too close behind when they are being 'launched'! We enjoyed watching them at their work for a few minutes before turning around at this point and heading back toward Estepona.

You do need a license for this, costing about 12 Euros and it can be obtained from the offices of the "Delegación Provincial de la Conserjeria de Agricultura y Pesca", located in all provincial capital cities. The police regularly check fishers for both licences and the length of any fish they have caught.