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The MiMove-blog had a chat with Estepona resident and former tour manager Patty Unwin about her life in Spain. My life has been exciting and full of twists and turns but this is it; Estepona is where my heart and home are. I will never move from Estepona.Â
I worked in the music industry for many years, with a lot of famous bands and a lot of not so famous. I wrote songs, managed tours, I even started my own trucking company and drove large trucks for bands on tour. My father came from the UK and my mother from Norway, but we lived in Asia when I grew up due to my father’s job in the military. We spent a large chunk of my childhood in Malaysia, at that time it was called Malaya, and later we moved to Germany, also for my father’s job. When I wanted to study my dad thought the UK was too far away and would not let me. I then took a job in Germany and moved out and that was that. I met Gary Unwin whilst still in school doing my A-levels. He played in a band gigging around Germany i.e. Star Club Hamburg. We fell in love and married.  Gary then worked as a session musician in Munich when and he played on many Munich sound recordings including Boney M. Through him I got introduced to the world of music. At that time, that industry was completely unknown to me. It was all very exciting. 
I got into writing English lyrics for German bands. Together Gary and I discovered and produced the female solo singer Dee D. Jackson. We wrote the song Automatic lover for her and we had great success in 1978. Donna Summer sang many of our demos. Sadly, when we played them to Giorgio Moroder, a good friend, he turned down our songs but asked for her contact and if we would mind her singing for him – A star was born!
It was a great time and a fun one. We lived in Germany with our small children but hung out with stars that everyone knew about. Who would have thought? We worked hard, nothing is for free, but we had so much fun. Our marriage did not last but life must go on and I started a trucking company with a partner. I even got my license for heavy good vehicles although I never used it much. It is a special feeling to drive one of those monsters. After a while, working with lights and sound for bands on tour I applied all my knowledge and turned into tour managing. I was one of the few people in the world who could manage a tour from start to finish and I was very hands-on, you have to be to make it work.
When you are on tour you really are like a family and every family needs a strong matriarch. I could tell you so many things about so many famous people, like Bonnie Tyler, Kim Wild, Meatloaf and Supertramp but just like your mother would not reveal your secrets neither will I. I do not think it is fair. Just let us leave it with I have had a great career, I had a lot of fun, but it is now I am having the time of my life.
I had visited Spain a few times and I had always loved it and when my mother made Estepona on the Costa del Sol her home I started visiting more often. It really was love at first sights. I fell in love with the atmosphere, the light, the people and just the beauty of it all. I feel so lucky to have found such a place. Again, who would have thought that Estepona would be my little piece of heaven on earth?
Although I kept working for many years, when I turned 50 I found myself a plot of land and had my dream house being built. Estepona has been my home ever since. As an only child, I wanted to be close to my mother when my father passed away. That is another thing I really appreciate with Spain. Their family values. Family comes first, and everyone is welcome. You do not sit alone here like in other countries. You check in with elderly relatives, and neighbours and in such a smallish place like this we feel compassionately with one another. 
I have two children Marc and Carly. I raised them on my own and we are very close, and I always found it difficult to be in different countries. After several years in New York, both have made Estepona their home. It makes me very happy to have them close by.
In the years I have been here, there has been a tremendous transformation of the town. It has been modernized in a very respectful manner and its beauty nowadays is just stunning. The town hall decided to create colour themes all through the town with flowers in colourful pots on the walls and in the streets. Depending on the area, it may be blue, yellow or red. It is very beautiful. There is also an initiative where the townhall identifies suitable walls for murals. They ask the owner for permission and have various Spanish artists paint the murals. It makes the town look pretty and also interesting.  There are also more pedestrian areas nowadays. 
The townhall also decided that the town should not become any higher and instead they are going into the ground, garages has to be underground now. While excavating, they have found so many interesting remains from Roman times and a lot of building work has to be changed in order to work around the findings. Another great policy the town has is not to allow any all-inclusive hotels. We want the tourists to come and take part in our life here. Go out for dinner and have lunch by the beach and so on. Without all-inclusive hotels, a different kind of tourist are attracted to our town. Here you can find boutique hotels and hostels and fewer of the bigger hotels.
There is a large and friendly expat community here Estepona also a lot of Spaniards. The nationalities change over the years, right after the financial crises a lot of French people came. Some of the Brits left when the whole Brexit debacle started but they are coming back now. I guess they realise that with or without Brexit they get so much more quality of life here. It helps of course that I speak Spanish, and why wouldn’t I after twenty years here. Spain is my home now and I am never moving somewhere else. I enjoy every single day of my life here. 
I may have retired some years ago, but my life is as busy as ever. I socialize a lot, go for walks in the hills or on the beach, life is just easy here. Maybe it is the light. You cannot be depressed when the sun is up, and the light makes the colours stand out. I also have the house and garden to take care of, but again the weather makes it enjoyable. I have loved to watch the transformation of this town. It is now a modern place with traditional values, a friendly community and it is a great place to be. Since the Costa del Sol is full of places with different character there is always something to do. The area attracts great artists, musicians, and just fun people. There is always something to do, you never have to be bored in Estepona. 
Sometimes people, I used to work with who are still in the business come to play in the area. It is lovely to catch up with each other then. But I wouldn’t want to leave, this is my home now. estepona-is-paradise-on-earth-for-patty