The Finns of the Costa del Sol feel like a drink when the sun shines

Ex-pat community has to find its own safety net for alcoholics

print this

By Timo Rautava in Fuengirola
     
      The sound of waves crashing on the Los Boliches beach can be heard every now and then as Kalevi relates his story in a Fuengirola café.
      He is just like any other Finnish pensioner in Spain: tanned face and grey hair.
      Plenty of time spent outdoors has covered the signs of a past alcohol abuse problem.
     
Kalevi has chosen to live in Fuengirola because the town can provide treatment for his ailment, alcoholism.
      "I knew there were AA groups along the Costa del Sol", he says.
      Kalevi had planned longer trips abroad previously as well, but he often wound up cancelling reserved vacations out of fear of a relapse.
     
Kalevi is not alone. He is joined by around one hundred Finns who meet up in half a dozen Alcoholics Anonymous groups in town. They share the common goal of trying to remain on the waggon, but otherwise they come from all walks of life, men and women alike.
      Around 20,000 Finns spend their winters along this stretch of coast, which measures a couple of hundred kilometres in length. The largest Finnish community can be found in and around Fuengirola. There are a good deal fewer AA groups in municipalities of equivalent size in Finland, often only two or three.
      Finns no longer stick out from the crowd because of their alcohol problems. Jaakko Kuusinen, the pastor of the Finnish congregation of the Costa del Sol, estimates that there are as many alcoholics in Fuengirola and environs as in any city of the same size in Finland.
     
But the Finns do run into difficulties from time to time.
      A man who has lived on the Costa del Sol for around five years reports seeing a Finnish man begging on the streets. He is also acquainted with a couple who always drink too much, but refuse to listen to advice. A man who retired early from a senior position as a result of burn-out is now in bad shape due to his drinking habit.
      When alcohol begins to threaten one’s health, the Costa del Sol does not provide the same type of societal safety net that Finland would.
      When things get too far gone, you are hospitalised. For many Finns, the only alternatives are a return home to Finland, or death.
     
Alternatively, you can come up with the means for detoxification yourself. The abundant AA groups are a part of this self-constructed safety net. Finns typically drink alone at home and withdraw from society. The groups have been established to help people like that in particular, reports one person who is familiar with the problems faced by Finns living abroad.
      A few smaller Finnish-run pensions also look after alcoholics.
     
The alcohol abuse problem is most often brought along from Finland. According to Kuusinen, the stories often contain the old familiar reasons: losing one’s job, or getting a broken heart. The problems accumulate if one is lonely and isolated from everyday Spanish life.
      "Sometimes your life can revolve around nothing more than three bars in the Los Boliches district", remarks one man who knows the Fuengirola Finnish community well.
      The circumstances down here are also conducive to a habit: cheap alcohol can be bought at every corner store and gas station. A litre bottle of respectable Spanish brandy will only set you back EUR 4.50, Kalevi reminds me.
     
Alcoholism can also develop on the Costa del Sol. Some arrive here with high hopes, but when everything does not go according to plan, more and more time is spent in bars, explains Ilkka.
      And in Spain, no one thinks twice about someone ordering a beer at ten in the morning. Wine and alcohol are intrinsic to the Spanish culinary culture, and drinks are served everywhere, at all kinds of functions. But the locals usually limit themselves to just the one, Jaakko Kuusinen points out.
      "Here there is plenty of action in the lifestyle. Most of the Finns are pensioners, and the pace is too fast for them sometimes", Oili muses.
     
Many of those who wind up in trouble seek comfort and advice from the congregation. Kuusinen has guided those Finns who are battling alcohol abuse to the Finnish AA groups, as he has found them to offer the best possible help.
      However, many people are astonished by the large number of groups. "One reason is the age structure", Oili explains.
      "A large part of the Finns who live here are retired, and people do not usually admit they have problems until they are in their fifties."
      Sometimes the local drinking culture can even accelerate the process of seeking help.
      "Because alcohol is an everyday thing, the problem is evident all the time, and it forces you to take a stand: I have to stay sober", pastor Jaakko Kuusinen remarks.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 24.10.2005

More on this subject:
 "My name is Otto, and I am an alcoholic..."
 FACTFILE: Los Pacos is a Finnish village

TIMO RAUTAVA / Helsingin Sanomat