Spain Guide
Andalucía
Marbella
Sheltered by the hills of the Sierra Blanca, MARBELLA stands in considerable contrast to most of its neighbours. Since attracting the attentions of the smart set in the 1960s, it has zealously polished its reputation as the Costa del Sol's most stylish resort. Chic restaurants, bars and cafés cash in on the hype, and everything costs considerably more. Marbella has the highest per capita income in Europe and more Rolls-Royces than any European city apart from London.
Recently, the Spanish government and authorities have been exercised by the arrival in Marbella of Russian and Italian mafia bosses who have been using the town as a base. In 2005, police discovered Europe's biggest-ever money-laundering operation, channelling billions of dollars from worldwide crime syndicates into Marbella-registered companies. In an ironic twist of history, there's also been a massive return of Arabs, especially since the late King Fahd of Saudi Arabia built a White House lookalike, complete with adjacent mosque, on the outskirts, where the Saudi royal family plus courtiers and servants spend the summer.
To be fair, Marbella has been spared the worst excesses of concrete architecture and also retains the greater part of its old town – set back a little from the sea and the new development. Centred on the attractive Plaza de los Naranjos and still partially walled, the old town is hidden from the main road. Slowly, this original quarter is being turned into clothes and jewellery boutiques and restaurants, but the process isn't that far advanced. You can still sit in an ordinary bar in a small old square and look up beyond the whitewashed alleyways to the mountains of Ronda. South of the centre, three excellent beaches stretch east from Playa de la Badajilla and Playa de Venus to Playa de la Fontanilla.
The seriously rich don't stay in Marbella itself. They secrete themselves away in villas in the surrounding hills or laze around on phenomenally large and luxurious yachts at the marina and casino complex of Puerto Banús, 6km west.