Initially started as a means for Spanish and English mothers who were sending their children to the International School in Almuñécar to practice each other’s language, the International Club of Salobreña   was founded by Maria Elena Targa in the early 1990s.   As the small group of moms got together in their homes each week to read and discuss articles in Spanish and English, word got out and the group blossomed. A new and bigger venue was needed so the Hotel Salobreña became, and continues to be, the home base for social meetings and special holiday celebrations. As a means of ‘giving back’ to the community in which they all lived, contributions were collected to ensure that needy families in La Caleta would be blessed with a good Christmas meal/celebration.

Today, the Club has expanded, with membership totalling close to 100 people representing countries all throughout the world. The Club meets all year round (except July/August and a short break at Christmas) still on Wednesdays and still at the Hotel Salobreña (see Calendar of Events for other locations/activities).

The purpose of the Club remains as it was in the beginning: to foster friendship and understanding between the people who live in this beautiful part of the world. Some are new to the area and others discovered the charms of Salobreña and the Costa Tropical years ago. But the need to learn and practice the language of our host country as well as experiencing all that it has to offer, remains the same.

Over the years the Club’s activities have included trips to nearby historical sites (the Sugar Museum, castillos of Salobreña and Almuñécar, the Olive Museum), business facilities (recycling plant, paper processing plant, fruit processing plant) and sites of natural beauty (Los Alpujarras, Nerja, Frigiliana, Lecrin Valley) to name but a few.  We now also have the facility to offer our members one-day and overnight coach trips to a variety of locations all over Spain (and even including Morocco in 2009!).

And the Club continues its charitable aid in the form of a donation to Aprosmo in Motril, a home where those who cannot take care of themselves are housed and cared for.

Although the International Club might be considered one of the ‘best kept secrets” of Salobreña, in the future we hope to be more visible with, and making a greater contribution to, the community in which we find ourselves living.