It’s completely understandable why thousands of people each year would want to move to Spain. It truly is a wonderful life on the Costa, we work to live rather than live to work. The town of Marbella in particular has always held a special fascination for both tourists and foreign residents. The town offers a glimpse of traditional Spain in its quaint old town, whilst its bustling centre is one of the most stylish fashion capitals of the continent. It is therefore disappointing, to say the least, when the press abroad, report only the negative and never print all the wonderful and positive points of living on the Costa Del Sol.
Dario Poli and David Mairs who have owned homes on the coast for 15 years have taken up the challenge to redress the offensive propaganda by positive action
The fight to defend the reputation of the Costa del Sol began in Sweden in April 2007, when Scottish composer, author, and painter Dario Poli, saw a CCN TV documentary on Marbella and the Costa del Sol which painted a very negative image of his adored Marbella.
Outraged by the one-sided depiction, he decided to do something about it, so he wrote the music for a song which he titled “Marbella, Marbella” expressing his affection for the town and the Costa del Sol
Returning to Mijas Costa, he added the lyrics with singer Alan De Ward and registered the song, with S.G.A.E in Malaga. Following a meeting with musical arranger and producer Davis Mairs, Alan recorded the song in David’s studio in Fuengirola.
Radio airplay
The catchy tune began to take off and since that CCN programme, what began as Dario’s one-man fight for Marbella, has intensified and the song is now played on most major radio stations, on the Costa del Sol such as Onda Cero FM, REM FM Coastline Radio FM, Central FM, and Global FM just to mention a few, including interviews by Radio Solymar FM in Swedish and Danish and both Dario and David have also made television appearances.
Colette Hall of Coastline Radio Fm wrote; “I think it’s one of those songs that holidaymakers will remember, like ‘Viva España’. I look forward to the album,” and supporter Eric Holzhauer of Radio Sun FM wrote. “Hi Dario, Let’s make your song the official song of Marbella!”
The song was presented by Laura Stanbridge, the organiser of the BCCS & CIT Symposium held in November 2007, which was attended by the Mayoress of Marbella, ángeles Muñoz; the Councillor for Tourism of Marbella José Luis Hernández; publicist Max Clifford, and other heads of the business community.
Samantha Mairs, a dynamic Scottish singer recorded the song and on Tuesday 19 February presented it on Radio Clyde FM during an interview about her support for the Costa del Sol initiative, which featured her in the Scottish “Sunday Post” and “CSN” the German weekly has published the story. “Marbella, Marbella, has even been played in Thailand.
Dario, David and supporters are working with the media to have the song played all over Europe with the hope of spreading the good news about the Costa del Sol in an endeavour to bring property buyers and tourists flocking to this glorious area.
For further information contact dario.poli@usa.net.
