Arms Trafficking in 1980's Spain

Thanks for the heads up. I’ll admit that I cringed when the first trailer that came up on YouTube was dubbed. But I’m glad to see that Amazon has it available in the original language, subtitles in English. (Or Spanish, which is great for intermediate/advanced language learners.)

Oh, and it’s available for download on the iPad app, too.

The Costa del Sol is still full of criminals. Marbella in the capital of the European drug trade.

Is the mayor of Marbella, Jesus Gil y Gil, in the series?

Started off as a developer. In 1969 one of his illegal buildings collasped and killed 58 and injured 147. He was found guilty, and did 18 months and paid a fine, but Franco pardoned him. Got into politics and tv. Ended up buying Atletico Madrid Football Club.

Yes Marbella and the Costa del Sol have been known as a crime capital in Spain for many years. Think of it like Europe's Miami in the 1980s/90s. In recent years however the area has cleaned up its act, now it's just retired British Gangsters and playboy Arab Sheikhs.

Jesús Gil though was in a league of his own, think of him as the Donald Trump of Spain. Not many outside of Spain know of him but he was quite infamous for many years.

In 1991, he founded and led the Grupo Independiente Liberal (GIL) as his political vehicle, and was elected as mayor of Marbella the same year. He installed a bust of Francisco Franco in the town hall and was known for walking the streets of the town shouting abuse at prostitutes and homeless people. His mayorship was popular enough for him to be re-elected three times.

Well, Marbella is now a secure and very safe place...but quite true, it was a nest for criminals in the 80s, when Spain was still waking up again to democracy after almost 40 years of a (very Catholic) dictatorship. Monzer Al Kassar, a Syrian citizen resident in Marbella, was (still is) as one of the leading arms trafficker in Europe and the book "El Traficante" (The Trafficker) was supposedly based on his story. The Farad family is an invention by the film producers and they never existed as such.

I binged it and it was pretty good.

I listened to it dubbed in English but also had to use captions because I have a little loss of hearing. The captions were often different from. the dubbing but I was kept entertained and was able to clearly understand.

I was thinking of the similarities to Mexico and the Drug Cartels because they are trying to take over some beautiful resorts like Acapulco..

I was also thinking of Tony and The Sopranos for whatever reasons.

Never thought of Miami and the cocaine corruption in the 80's there. I think many of the magnificent condominiums were bought with illegal money. They were laundering the profits from the cocaine trade.

I never saw a character in Los Farad that represented a mayor of Marbella.

I would never have known any of this if I had not watched this series.

Marbella looks clean but it’s teeming with drug gangs. They’re the people at the top of the chain so they aren’t on the streets selling.

https://amp.theguardian.com/news/2021/may/20/a-united-nations-of-how-marbella-became-a-magnet-for-gangsters

I tried watching it bu the acting was pretty poor so I gave up.

Marbella still has an active crime scene, it's not just the home of retired British gangsters. Gang related shootings, arson etc are still occurring. However, the average tourist is unlikely to encounter any of this activity and the town remains a big draw for tourists, mainly British, German and French.

I like to visit the old town when I'm in the area, plenty of bars and restaurants dotted around the main square and throughout the many winding lanes, a great place to while away a lazy afternoon.

Interesting

So while Marbella might have an active crime scene, it does not affect the ordinary tourist such as in Mexico where the tourist might get caught up in the violence between the cartels.

I had no idea there was so much organized crime in some cities and regions of Europe.

Just to clarify, the crime scene in Marbella/Costa del Sol is nothing like in Mexico, having spent some time in both areas. Marbella is much less reliant on actual violence it's more just corruption. I think the international press, especially in the UK likes to fearmonger a bit about this part of Spain to help their sales with their readers, who are those lower-middle class Brits who often go on package holidays to the Costa del Sol area.

If you are interested in real Spanish cinema lol there is a series of dark-comedy films by a famous Spanish comedian called Santiago Segura, based on this character of Jose Luis Torrente who is a "a lazy, rude, drunkard, sexist, racist, right-wing ex-policeman turned fake cop" who goes on these wild espcapaades in Spain. Definitely made for a Spanish audience not sure if it translates well to foreigners. Anyway the first movie (Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley) is set in Madrid and the sequel (Torrente 2: mision en Marbella) which is set in the murky yet humorous underworld of Marbella of blackmail and corruption (very Spanish lol!).

Lots of movies on Netflix and Amazon with crime subjects all over Europe. Apparently, the glossy dream of the Euro experience has a pretty good undercurrent of crime. All those cathedrals, snowy Scandinavian scenes, aperitivo's, strolling through the old towns, living like a local, wine and song are the smooth outer layer. Tourists living in the frolic sunshine of Europe, while the side streets and housing projects lurk "over there".

And treemoss2

that is what it is like when you go on a. cruise. You are taken to the prettiest places. You are not taken to ugly places on your excursions.

And right now on Amazon, I am alternating between Ivan The Terrible and Catherine II. Both of these are Russian TV Series. Very interesting, entertaining, educational and informative. I gave myself a break by watching Los Farad.

I believe that history is an important part of travel and I do try to learn as much as I can before going somewhere. However sometimes I go somewhere not knowing what I am seeing and learn about a place after the fact.

I´ve started watching Los Farad. Do not forget that it´s based in the 80s (remember New York at that time?) and it´s nothing like it now, Marbella is a high-end luxury city/beach resort where thousands and thousands of vacationers go every year. A beautiful old quarter and a great climate...if you like the sun. Obviously, where there´s money there´s corruption and crime, but please do not compare Marbella to a Mexican (or any other place) invaded by drug guerrillas.

Hi MikeBasqueGuide

I am very glad for Los Farad because it helped educate me while entertaining me. However I am aware that it is fictionalized. Never heard of Marbella until Los Farad and knew very little about arms trafficking until Los Farad.

I have no idea what NYC was like in the 80's but for movies, series and documentaries. Ditto Miami and that is now also true of Marbella.

The 80's was a long time ago and when I think back to the 80's, I think of Aids and hedonism, the latter which included drugs.

My memory is that it was a violent decade but what decade has not been violent?

The whole world has changed since the 80's which almost certainly is good and bad.

I probably will not ever have the opportunity to visit Marbella but if I were able to, I would be there. My next cruise will be taking me to the Mediterranean but I do not yet know enough about my ports to really discuss some of them.

I am still trying to understand The Riviera(s). Of course I have heard about The Riviera but I know very little about The Riviera. I am learning and by the end of my cruise, should know so much more than I do today.

I think that one of the reasons I gravitated towards Los Farad is because of its location but also because of the theme of arms trafficking.

You might recall that before my last cruise, I thought that there was only one camino and yiou were very helpful to me.