The Guiri ARMY has been honoured with the recognition of a half dozen outstanding foreigners during Europe Day celebrations.

A LEGION of guiris have been awarded for their ‘indispensable’ hard work in Marbella.

On Friday, a group of entrepreneurs from half a dozen different countries were honored at an event celebrating Europe Day.

Just some of the thousands of foreign entrepreneurs – from 170 nationalities, who live in the resort – they were championed for their long successful careers.

In particular, the event organised by the Delegation of Foreign Residents, celebrated the amount of ‘riqueza’ and, most importantly, jobs they had brought to Marbella.

Two of the biggest employers singled out, AnyTech 365 and the La Sala Group, employ well over 600 workers between them – the majority Spanish.

Janus Radford and Ian Radford both picked up the awards.

Dane Nielsen, has lived in the resort for 20 years, and came initially ‘to play golf’ he admitted to the audience.

AnyTech365, his digital security firm, has grown to be one of Europe’s largest, with four offices including two in Costa del Sol.

He told Olive Press, “We have probably paid more than 100 million euros for social security but we haven’t received one euro in grants.”

He said: “But Marbella, despite paying a lot of taxes, is a wonderful place to live. It has also been a huge supporter of our company as it’s grown in the past decade.”

He added: “Marbella wanted to offer more than just golf and restaurants, so we were able to grow into an international business from here.”

Recently, the businessman who splits his time between Ibiza and Sierra Blanca has opened call centers in Morocco and Bulgaria.

Sala Group has five companies in Marbella, and is one of the biggest employers in the area.

Remedios Bocanegra, the head of the Foreign Residents Department at Remedios Bocanegra, explained that Radford arrived in Marbella as a 20-year-old in 1989 and won Andalucia’s squash title.

The Brit represented the UK previously at several padel tournaments held in the country.

Before he opened La Sala Beach, she explained that he had spent many years organizing and bringing in football teams from Scandinavia.

He told Olive Press that the past two decades had been “busy, busy and hectic”. “I am sure that we have brought something new to Marbella, and we’ve created many jobs.”

In excellent Spanish, he said to the audience as he received the award: “Marbella has only gotten better and better.”

Fredrik Bae, owner of The Pool, a dynamic coworking centre in Copenhagen, also attended the celebration.

The Swede who attended school in Marbella, and then spent holidays there, explained that they saw a high demand for a similar centre when it was opened two years ago on the Golden Mile.

He said, “I am really pleased that the Town Hall has selected us for this project.”

“We already have 39 nationalities working for us, with a balanced balance of men to women and Spanish included.”

He said: “We want to change Marbella so that people can work here all year round.” The technology industry also benefits, not only tourism.

Alina Asipian was also awarded for her outstanding work at the Savia Organic Salon located in San Pedro. Alina has worked in beauty salons all over the resort and won this award after two decades of service.

The Olive Press quoted the businesswoman as saying: “I am really honored to receive this award.”

The Norwegian company Antima and the newly-established Forum Marbella in the Golden Mile also won awards.

A female-only choir sang Bridge over Troubled Water. 11 members of the Choir Andaluz were present. 

Steve Marks’ founder was later surprised by a personal award.

Remedios Bocanegra concluded that “Marbella reflects the cultural diversity and richness of our continent.”