OK, so I can partially answer my own question, though not concerning P3.
This is posted after completing the trip.
After due consideration my wife and I decided to try the bus / train option. Given that we had a 1040am check-in time we consulted Alsa the bus/coach company and prebooked tickets on their 0800 Granada-Malaga service, picking up in the next village to ours at 0830 . Obviously, if the bus calls at our village it also calls at others en route and this tends to extend the journey time a little, but nevertheless we arrived in Malaga on schedule at 0945. Malaga bus station backs onto the railway station so its just a question of crossing the road and waiting for the next RENFE Cercanias train for Fuengirola which calls at the airport. In our case the departure was at 1019 and we breezed into the airport just 14 minutes later.
The whole experience was just about as stress free as you can get these days and my gut feeling about not using the car was borne out when we saw two accidents on A45 where cars had spun out on the wet slippery surface due to heavy rain.
Airport Check in was the normal 30 minutes of queuing, but having checked in satisfactorily we still had time for coffee and donuts before my wife had to go through the security system on her way to the gate.
The coach returning from Malaga to Granada was full...of Brits; which just goes to show how much the services of Monarch and Granada Airport are missed, since everyone except me was heading through to Granada City and beyond.
Three valuable lessons learned here today and worthy of note to other users of Malaga Airport
1. From Jaen and Granada and the surrounding areas, the bus train option is eminently do-able at a cost which is roughly the same as driving down by car, considering stress levels, fuel costs, parking fees and general wear and tear.our joint bus and train fares one single and one return came to under 24 Euros.
2. To check to see whether your outbound flight is going to be delayed at all, check-in then pop downstairs to the arrivals hall and check inbound flight arrivals; in our case the flight was due in at 1210 but arrived at 1147, so there were no anticipated delays and indeed the flight left right on time.
3. DO NOT use the coffee shop in the departures area; its dire, the food is crap, and the hot drinks only luke warm, the staff are even worse than the Maccy-D rejects to be found at most UK airports. The coffee lounge in the arrivals hall is much, much better...
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