Which is the Costa del Sol village that is flying high with the holiday airline TUI?

The small Axarquía village of El Borge in Malaga province, with barely 1,000 registered inhabitants, is one of the cradles of the Muscat of Alexandria grape. It is here that the exquisite raisins and wines are produced. Its charms attract thousands of visitors every year, as well as a good number of foreigners who decide to settle there.

This is what German commercial aircraft pilot Christian Heisler did when he bought a house in the municipality, the landscape and people of which he has fallen "in love" with.

Heisler, who works for the airline TUI , is so enamored of El Borge that he has managed to convince his company to name one of the aircraft he pilots after the town. The tourism department of El Borge town hall proudly announced the news on social media, accompanying the post with photos of the pilot standing next to the 'Costa del Sol - El Borge' aircraft.

"He feels so at home in El Borge that he wants to fly the flag for it. A token of affection for our town, for which we thank him," read the town hall message.

It is not the first time that an airline operating on the Costa del Sol has made a nod to Malaga province. A similar gesture took place in 2018, when Norwegian dedicated a plane to illustrious philosopher María Zambrano - a new 189-seat Boeing 737 MAX8, its tail adorned with Zambrano's portrait.

This was part of the airline's initiative to pay tribute to 109 illustrious figures from the fields of history, arts and sciences, 11 of whom were Spanish.

The portrait of María Zambrano was provided by the foundation named after her, which looked through the archives to opt for a photo from Zambrano's university years in Madrid, sometime between 1928 and 1930.

Besides the Spanish personalities that Norwegian selected, there were prominent figures from the Nordic countries, the UK, Ireland, the US, Argentina and France. The Spanish portraits also included: navigators Christopher Columbus and Juan Sebastián Elcano; lawyer and politician Clara Campoamor; Nobel Prize winner for Medicine Santiago Ramón y Cajal; authors Miguel de Cervantes, Gloria Fuertes, Rosalía de Castro and Benito Pérez Galdós; painter Joan Miró and musician Paco de Lucía.