End of an era for iconic Costa del Sol coffee shop

Cafetería Cavana closed its doors on Sunday 2 November in the heart of Nerja on the eastern Costa del Sol, bringing to an end more than half a century of history and hospitality in a place that has been a symbol and meeting point for residents and thousands of tourists who visit the coastal town every year. The owners of the business, the Pérez Bueno family, have sold the building to investors, who plan to completely renovate it.

Located in the square of the same name, a few metres from the Balcón de Europa, the origins of Cafetería Cavana date back to May 1973, when, according to the minutes of Nerja town hall meeting dated 27 June, at the request of Encarnación Bueno Atencia, opening licence number 29 was granted for a ‘second-class café’, under the name “Cavana Snack-Bar”. It was located in what was then known as Plaza de los Mártires, now Plaza Cavana, according to a social media post from the Nerja museum.

Throughout its long history, the cafeteria became “a benchmark for the political and cultural concerns of Nerja in the 1970s,” according to the museum’s post.

It regularly hosted a local chess tournament as well as Ludo and exhibitions of works by artists including Pepe Carneros, as well as exhibitions by photographers Juan Carlos Piovano in 1976 and Paco García in 1977, watercolours by David Kenning in 1994, paintings by Liza Bolinguer in 1996 and collages by Roberto Díaz in 2006.

In an article published in SUR on 27 March 1975, entitled “Cultural promotion of the Sala Cavana”, the then correspondent, Juan Palomo, pointed out that since its inauguration in 1973, twelve exhibitions had been held. The owners, brothers Salvador and Rafael Pérez Bueno, told Palomo that their main purpose “was to promote art and culture in Nerja and on the Costa del Sol.”

Pepe Franco, who worked as a waiter from 1976 to 2019, recalled that personalities such as journalist Pablo de Irazazabal, sculptor Aurelio Teno and writer Juan Madrid were regular customers. “During the winters of the late 1980s, the latter used to sit by the fireplace to write the scripts for the series Brigada Central,” added the Nerja museum.

Cafetería Cavana was also a regular meeting place for hiring extras for the legendary TV series Verano Azul and it also appeared in the programme, in episode 4, entitled ‘Beatriz, Mon Amour’.

The closure of Cafetería Cavana marks the end of an era in hospitality in the centre of Nerja. Its sofas, bar and terrace have seen thousands of customers come and go, who became one big family.