By James Langton
BRISTOL-born expat Alexandria Llorente and her Argentinean husband, Juan Pablo, saw their business, Fuengirola’s popular live music bar Pogs, destroyed last week in a blaze that took a team of fire-fighters from Fuengirola, Mijas and Marbella 15 hours to extinguish.
For the past four and a half years, Pogs has been the couple’s livelihood and it was even the place where they first met. Before taking over, Alex, who has lived on the coast for sixteen years, was manager at the bar for three years. The couple have a young son, Noah and are expecting their second child in September.
Alex and Juan Pablo now face an anxious wait as to when, if ever, work on restoring the bar can begin, but for now the local community can support the couple and help them get back on track by donating spare tools such as hammers, screwdrivers or drills, equipment which is vital for putting together temporary bars and stands they need for Fuengirola’s annual Feria de los Pueblos event, where Alex and Juan Pablo run the Hawaiian-themed caseta.
Alex said that she wanted to “say thank-you to all of our fans” who had been in touch to offer supportive and thoughtful messages.
Donated tools can be left at the Bambola bar, opposite Pogs on Calle Lomo de Espinoza, and Alex can be contacted via the bar’s Facebook page.
