Life in Andalucia is becoming increasingly urbanised, especially on the coast, where greed and the opportunity for a quick buck encourages continued construction of homes and urbanisations. So I’ve therefore been thankful that my little corner of Andalucia is fairly peaceful. Firstly I am lucky enough to escape the coast regularly to either Ronda or Gauro and enjoy the tranquility of the inland areas. Whilst living and working on the coast, our neighbourhood is a sleepy corner of Marbella with no traffic and mountain and sea views that deny our urban setting. Like so many areas of the coast, for most of the year we live practically alone with just a few local Spanish as neighbours or the odd expat.Yet things have changed recently. We are victims of the annual summer invasion. As a resident, I now feel qualified to adopt a superior attitude towards humble holiday makers! Our area is now awash with visitors, coming to their holiday homes. The first week before arrival is usually a flurry of activity of handymen, noisily renovating and repairing the properties ready for the owners arrivals. Then comes the cleaning ladies with their swift-fire Andaluz chatter; followed by the stressed-out , Northern European owners themselves. I slowly realise the limits of my generous nature; feeling as I do now, unwilling to share my neighbour with the newcomers! Not only do holiday makers change the rhythm of each day, (clearly ignoring siestas, when even the most enthusiastic down tools to enjoy a hour or two of peace after lunch) and take my favourite shaded parking space under the fragrant tree across the street, but they always seem to come home at night drunk, talking loudly as they step out of their taxis, after an over priced meal in a restaurant on the coast.
Worse has happened too – the once empty apartment upstairs is now lived in! Not only do I miss that fact we are nolonger the only residents in this part of our building, but our new "vecinos" have a canary. This is no joyful bird adding a flavour of the real Spain to my daily life, but a sad, lonely bird that seems to have developed a madness manifested by loud squawking!
Weekend escapes to the countryside are no less peaceful. The spring and summer heat brings out the cicadas – huge winged bugs that cling to trees making high pitched "songs" in the hope of attracting a partners. On a recent trip to the summer house of Rafa’s family, in the picturesque valley of Cartajima near Ronda, 
I was amazed at the immense volume of these creatures – they simply do not stop! At times they sounded more like high tech car alarms than modest little insects! I quick glance on google confirmed to me that unlike the cicadas in the USA, (that can come back over extended cycles of up to 17 years) the Spanish bugs live for about 8 years and appear each late spring to drown out the sounds of silence in the countryside.
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I can fully relate to this post Andrew, albeit on a smaller scale for us here in the mountains the same applies
CR