Marbella Destination Guide

Marbella and the nearby Puerto Banús are important beach resorts of the Costa del Sol. The town is famous for being a playground for the rich and famous. Marbella is famed as an exclusive destination for wealthy tourists from Northern Europe, as well as for the well-heeled from the UK, Ireland, Germany and the US.

History

Archaeological excavations have been made in the mountains around Marbella, which point at human habitation in Paleolithic and Neolithic times. There are also remains of Phoenician and later Carthaginian settlements in the area of Rio Real. In Roman times, the city was called "Salduba" (Salt City).

During Islamic rule the Moors built a castle in this city. The name Marbella, which is derived from Marbil-la, dates from this Islamic era. The traveller Ibn Battuta characterised the town as "a pretty little town in a fertile district." In 1485 the city fell to Christian forces.

In the 1940s, Marbella was a small jasmine-lined village with only 900 inhabitants. But this soon changed when Prince Max Egon zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg and his heir Alfonso de Hohenlohe experienced a problem with their Rolls-Royce in the vicinity. This first encounter with Marbella so impressed Alfonso that he decided to buy land commercially, marketing the area as a tourist destination. In 1954 he opened the Marbella Club Hotel; his son had recently returned from California and the hotel was loosely modeled on the motel style with lower pitched terracotta roofs among 23,000 trees.

In the eighties, Marbella continued to be a destination for the jet set, with the most recognizable face being that of Gunilla von Bismarck. However, problems arose in 1987 when Melodie Nakachian, a daughter of Raymond Nakachian, a local billionaire philanthropist and the Korean singer Kimera was kidnapped, putting the city in the focus of the media.

Sights in and around Marbella

• Arabian wall
• Bonsai museum
• Museo del Grabado Español Contemporáneo
• Old city centre
• Playa de la Bajadilla (beach)
• Playa de Fontanilla (beach)
• Puerto Banús, a marina built by José Banús where Rolls-Royces and Ferraris meet yachts.
• The Golden Mile featuring the Marbella Club Hotel and its beach club, as well as the late King Fahad's palace.
• Encarnation's Church (Iglesia de la Encarnación). Oldest church in the city situated in the old-town.

A Costa del Sol destination guide from Michael Liggan of Alta Vista Spain.