Foreign influencers in southern Spain
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Jennie Rhodes
Marbella
Friday, 17 January 2025, 16:30
Spain's national basketball coach, the Italian Sergio Scariolo, has a long and deep connection with Malaga; he was the head coach of Unicaja for five years, from 2003 to 2008.
Scariolo has a house in Marbella, a town he has also established deep roots in and evidence of this connection can be found in the star he unveiled on the boulevard of fame in Puerto Banús on 23 June 2016. On 6 June 2017 he officially opened Marbella's San Bernabé fair and in June 2018 he was named 'adopted son' of Marbella. In June 2023 Scariolo presented his biography at an event organised by SUR at Malaga's Cervezas Victoria brewery.
In 2024 Marbella town hall announced that it was going to name the El Ingenio sports pavilion in San Pedro Alcántara after the basketball coach. Speaking when the announcement was made, Scariolo said: "Sport and charity are the two pillars of my life". The coach talked of his connection with Marbella and of "the possibilities that the town offers for lovers of sport and healthy habits".
In 2008 Scariolo set up the Cesare Scariolo Foundation, in honour of his father who died of cancer. Over its 17-year history the foundation has raised money for good causes, including children with blood cancer, through an annual dinner held in Marbella.
Born in Brescia in 1961, Scariolo arrived in Spain in 1997 and in November 2003 he signed with Unicaja Málaga. The team won its first national title, the Copa del Rey in 2005, and won the ACB League the following season. The five years that he spent with the team have been described as the "golden age" for Unicaja Málaga.
In 2009 Scariolo was appointed national coach of Spain and during the four years he was in charge, the team was twice European champion (2009-2011) and runner-up at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Three years later, in 2015, he returned to the position and the team won Eurobasket 2015 as well as bronze at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro 2016.
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