As a family finished their lunch and the sound of pool balls rattling around a table filled the covered seating area, The Irish Rover on the coast of Fuengirola was going about its business as usual. But it was here, under the name Monaghans, where two high-ranking Scottish gangsters were brutally gunned down in front of their pals as they watched the Champions League final.
It was May 31 last year when the execution took place, with the news soon spreading across the globe that Eddie Lyons Jr and Ross Monaghan were shot dead in the Spanish resort just 30km up the road from millionaire playground Marbella.
Michael Terrence Riley was arrested in Merseyside within days, with the Huyton man being extradited later last year. He is currently in a Spanish prison awaiting trial.
A rebrand after a fatal night
More than a year later, I visited the pub which has undergone a significant rebrand as it attempts to distance itself from the horrific shooting that took place for many to see on the Costa del Sol waterfront.
Walking into the open-fronted bar, it's like any other Irish bar which is copy-and-pasted throughout the Costa del Sol. Approaching the venue, a sign sits on the right, next to a fruit machine which explains how “cash is king” and is always the preferred method of payment. Unfortunately, I cannot add to the bar’s liquidity on this occasion.
Sitting around 30 minutes from the centre of Fuengirola, it sees steady footfall pass the bar as people look to visit the quieter area of the beach which spans around 7km from Sohail Castle to Carvajal.
Quiet atmosphere and local indifference
But when the ECHO visited, there were just a handful of people. A pint of Estrella Galicia was just €3.60 but served in a Carling glass. The bar felt safe, with several screens across the covered front showing tennis and Sky Sports News.
Sitting on one of the many empty tables on a Friday afternoon, shortly after 3pm, the bar has velvet green round couches, circling around tables, with placards advertising the “family fun Friday” event people can enjoy. It was hard to believe gang warfare could spill into the seemingly quiet bar.
Fifteen months on from the fatal night, the bar has looked to recreate its image, although it is unclear as to whether it has managed to shift its attachment to criminality with the Guardia Civil raiding the premises in April this year.
Footage released by the armed police unit for Spain earlier this year shows officers combing through documents as well as ensuring the cash is king sign made an appearance.
However, the ECHO learned over the course of a two-week long investigation into criminality in Spain that people are either unaware of what happens where or they simply do not care.
Riley moved to Galicia prison
Few people who spoke with the ECHO on and off the record cared little about what crime was being committed on their doorstep, especially when it concerned those with links to serious organised crimes - such as Ross Monaghan and Eddie Lyons Jr.
One business owner, who has lived in the country for six years and refused to be named, told the ECHO: “We heard all about it, people round here love to chatter about these things, but once you hear about the people involved you just think ‘oh well’.
“That’s the world they live in and it doesn’t effect us.”
When asked whether the shooting impacted footfall in Fuengirola, she said: “Not at all, people either don’t know about it or just don’t care.”
Earlier this year, the ECHO reported how suspected gunman Riley, who is originally from Bootle but of Huyton, was moved from a maximum-security lock-up in Malaga in anticipation of the arrival of crime boss Steven Lyons.
Lyons is being held at the Alhaurin de la Torre jail should following his extradition from the Middle East to Spain on money laundering and gang membership charges.
Riley was moved to the Teixeiro Prison in Spain's north-west region of Galicia, a 10 and a half hour drive from the place where he was being held.
It was the second time Riley was moved since his extradition, having spent time at a VIP prison north of Madrid following his extradition.
