Lucius and the Stink of Rotting Fish, Expat life Spain

What did the Romans ever do for Almuñécar?

Apart from inventing takeaway food, apartment living, public baths, complaining about politicians… and making the entire town smell like fermented fish.

In this episode of Spanish Practices, we travel back to Roman Sexi (modern-day Almuñécar) to follow one entirely unremarkable man: Lucius. He is not a general, senator or emperor. He is a garum worker — which means his job is stirring rotting fish in the sun and smelling so bad even his own family stands upwind.

Through Lucius's aching back, noisy apartment block, chaotic streets and daily visits to Roman "takeaways", we discover that ordinary life in Roman Spain looks suspiciously like expat life in modern Spain. People live in cramped flats. Neighbours argue loudly. Bureaucracy is baffling. Everyone eats out. The bars are noisy. The water is questionable. And everyone is convinced society is in decline.

There are fish guts. There is urine-based laundry. There are public baths with better gossip than hygiene. There are gladiators, amphitheatres, dodgy wine, and a reminder that tourism is really just garum with better marketing.

From Roman food factories to modern beachfront apartments, this episode explores how little the rhythm of Spanish life has changed in 2,000 years — and why Almuñécar has always known how to turn sunshine into a living.

History, humour, and the unmistakable stink of fermented anchovies.