Since my father purchased a small appartment in Nerja, I have been there at least three times a year for the past four years. However, it has undergone radical changes just in these recent years.
Originally, the small town was far from the commercial package holidays which are usually associated with the Costa Del Sol. It provided the beautiful quiet and scenic holiday needed to escape, and feel like your on a true holiday. With the back drop of the mountains, the beaches so close by, and the superb choice of quality places to eat it's idealic.
However, through the very recent years, Nerja jas been featured on television holiday programmes, and is more increasingly seen in holiday brochures. This impacted a lot on Nerja, with many hotels, beginning to spoil the view of the beach, being erected, and clear tourist impacts have hit the town. Now, even a golf course is to be constructed on the periphery of the town.
Despite this, the goregeous location has been ressilient to some extent to the changes, and the shops remain to be run by locals, and you can still get the freshly prepared food along the beach bars. However, I feel that from the result of tourist, nights in restaurants, such as flamenco nights, have been tarnished with the tacky tourist attraction feel to them.
Besides this, just short drives away are the caves, which offering fantastic sites, and even hold concerts in them! Up in the mountains are very unaffected towns, such as Frigilliani, where you get a sense of the true Spain. Traditions still run strong here, such as on the longest day of the year, there is a huge festival on the beach, with fireworks, and is the only day barbequeing is permitted on Burriana beach.
Some english places are creeping in like pubs, and one club, but are not too influencial yet. but with progression such as it is now, Nerja may face the fear of it become a tourist hotspot. but meanwhile, Nerja doesn't fail to lose it's charm, and hope itkeeps it for
many years to come, and not become the run of the mill Spanish holiday.
One final pointless point! Many english pronounce Nerja ner-ha, however you will notice the locals call it ner-ka! The spanish laguage has diallects just as the british do, so j's are not always pronouced as h's in Spain!