Spain is a beautiful country, rich in history, beautiful buildings, sculptures, paintings, literature etc. of different cultures and ages.

The Spaniards enjoy life, love to sing and dance and their fiestas, which last several days, usually start and end in church.

The Patron Saints have a special place in life even now and the Holy Week Processions, especially in Malaga and Sevilla, which last for hours, are well-known.

Then there is the sunny climate, good food and wine which beckon many tourists to visit our coastal areas near the Mediterranean Sea.

The tourist industry in Spain started in the sixties and at the Costa del Sol it began in Torremolinos and spread more and more via extensive construction of new neighbourhoods along the coast which now extend into the interior. Many Dutch came here especailly in the winter months, but a lot of English, Irish, German, Scandinavians etc. came as well.

Mgr. Jan Dellepoort, a priest of the Dutch Diocese of Breda, had a very wide view of things. He had worked as an expert on priestly vocations at the national and European level towards a better formation for priests and more cooperation between countries in order to help one another.

At a later stage in his life and due to ill health, he came to the Costa del Sol and saw the great need of foreigners who, on the whole, did not speak any Spanish. He founded small communities and visited these groups as chaplain. He did not do this just for the Dutch, but for anyone who came to his celebrations. For this purpose he compiled a small Mass-guide book in seven languages to enable anybody to participate in  the liturgy.  

After some time the Mgr. Dellepoort Foundation was set up in the Netherlands in order to support his work in different ways and because the pastoral work expanded to more places, some more priests came to help him. As it was not the plan to form more parishes, in the places they visited they started small communities.

The Eucharistic Celebrations were usually celebrated in the Spanish parish churches and later on, it was also celebrated in an Anglican church in Los Boliches the same way other denominations use Catholic churches for their celebrations. The social and human contact were important and even non-Catholics come to our church due to this special spirit.

This pastoral work had grown more and more and some of our Mill Hill Fathers have worked here at the Costa del Sol: 

Joop Deen ( June 1991-2000) Due to the efforts of Joop, two sections were formed eventually: Dutch and English -speaking, as fewer Dutch people came to church and also to the coast while more and more English-speaking people came.

Wim v.d. Hurk (September 1977 - November 2004). He came to Spain at the age of 75 and left to retire at the age of 83. 

Wim van Gastel ( December 2002 - December 2008).

This pastoral work is not a job for young priests on the whole, as we deal more with elderly people. Therefore we have quite a lot of burials, even of those from other denominations. Older pensioners seem to be busier than when they still working and do not like to be tied down to a parish-system with all the activities and our community-system leaves residents, regular visitors and holiday-makers a lot freer. Irish and English people who come here regularly and know the area a bit better like to get married here.

We work under the direction of the Bishop of Malaga and are part of the Spanish parish and many people come to our services. The Dutch, both Catholics and Protestants, come together regularly for a cup of coffee and a chat, while the English speakers have a meal together. Small parish councils were soon started and they deal with both pastoral and social matters. Moreover our communities are involved with projects in Spain, Africa and South America, especially helping orphanages and clinics etc.

Perhaps it is a pity that mainly due to language differences our communities are often isolated from the Spanish parishes. However, due to shortage of priests for the different language groups, more and more of our people have to go to Spanish services. I believe this is something positive.

The Mgr. Dellepoort Foundation has done a great job helping the Malaga Diocese with pastoral work for tourists and can now be discontinued at the Costa del Sol as the diocese is taking over, though pastoral work for the English speaking people still goes on. The Mgr. Dellepoort Foundation carries on at the Costa Blanca at Benidorm which is like a small parish and the Foundation is willing to assist somehere else, if necessary, on the Iberic Peninsula.