Distanca conducida 681

681 kilometres on the road later and I am back at Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport with Sofi after duly celebrating her 50th birthday with four unforgettable days in Spain, featuring our Airbnb with the kind donkey Cleopatra, a cancelled race in the storm, and a visit to Jerez de la Frontera that for so long had been on my bucket list.

From Jerez we drove along the A-381 through the Parque Natural Los Alcornocales to La Línea de la Concepción and Gibraltar which I last visited in 2009 on my way to Tangier. Like last time, it really felt so different from Spain just a few kilometres across as we had lunch at a waterfront Wagamama, speaking English, and paying in Pound Sterling. While the UK is about the introduce an ETA requirement also for EU citizens from 1 April, this time we were just waved across the border. I will see how different things will be in six weeks when I am heading over to Wales with Anna to run the Pembrokshire Ultra. Right now, I cannot escape the feeling that I have cheated somehow by feeling all fresh in my legs as I walk through the airport in Málaga, so different from in Seville a year ago.