For the first 7 years of my expat life on the Costa del Sol, i became accustomed to the typical Spanish supermarkets, amongst them Mercadona, Supersol, Euromarket. Imagine the scene in each – a row of bread, a row of olives, a row of tuna…oh, and a row of jamon. Ok, maybe this is an exaggeration, but for years I would be crying out for a little variety and a selection of ready meals.

In fact it got so bad that whenever I left my Marbella property to venture to the UK, I used to stand transfixed in Tesco, just dumbfounded by the range of products and the choice of fresh and chilled food available….and don´t get me started on Marks and Spencer food – my God, if there was one reason to return to the UK, this was surely it!! I swear I had to be dragged out of the Edinburgh M&S food hall the last time I went to see my sister!
So I have to tell you that life changed for the better on the Costa del Sol in late 2007 with the opening of the first Iceland Overseas, a branch of the hugely popular Iceland frozen food store. Now, I´m not a huge fan of frozen food, so I didn´t get too excited. But then I found out that half of the store was dedicated to Waitrose products – now that sparked my interest!

My first visit to the Iceland Overseas/Waitrose store on the outskirts of Fuengirola came earlier this year, and it was so exciting! HP sauce (in squeezeable bottles!), Kelloggs cereals, Maltesers hot chocolate (a secret vice…until now!), cottage cheese, Ginsters pasties…and last but certainly not least…Thorntons chocolates!

The store recently expanded, meaning that Christmas on the Costa del Sol will be extra special this year – imagine an Iceland turkey crown, roast potatoes in goose fat, Brussels sprouts, real Xmas pudding, advocaat snowballs, chocolate money, selection boxes…and brandy butter! Fabulous, just like Xmas should be!