Various athletes from around Europe have picked Nerja as their winter training base and in the run up to the London Olympics the bookings at the Enrique López Cuenca athletics stadium in Nerja have increased significantly from last year.
Last winter around 500 sportspeople used the stadium, whilst this year the number has increased to 800, some of whom are in training for the London Olypmics, including Belgium high-jumper Tia Hellebaut who won the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Hellebaut won gold beating the favorite, Blanka Vlašić of Croatia (see video below).
The councilor for Sports, José Alberto Tomé has said that “some foreign sports federations have chosen Nerja to complete the physical preparation of athletes” and that the Enrique López Cuenca Stadium and its surroundings “have become like a real Olympic village. ”