Marbella is often referred to as Spain’s Jewel of the Costa del Sol, made famous by becoming Europe’s playground for the rich and famous over the years. Indeed, when one thinks of Marbella, it usually conjures up images of luxurious villas, nestled between mountains and miles of golden sandy beaches, plush hotels, casinos, superb golf courses, multi-million dollar yachts and Ferraris. Although, Marbella is not exclusively for the jet-set and neither has it always been. In fact, there is a hidden side of Marbella not always known to everyone, which when exploring the back streets of the old town, a number of stately buildings dating back as far as the 16th century or beyond can be found, along with small traditional shops, cafes and galleries – a far cry from the modern Marbella.
Marbella Old Town
Marbella started to become popular after the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), yet it was not until the mid 1940′s tourists started to visit in large numbers, when entrepreneurs like Prince Alfonso de Hohenlohe initiated the construction of hotels and apartment complexes. It was then that the rich and famous flocked to the resort, praising Marbella by word of mouth all over the world.
However, in 2006 the town took a knock of bad press when it came to light Marbella was harbouring a dark history of bribery and corruption, instigated by the late Jesus Gil. Since being elected for Mayor in 1991, Gil was linked to a number of corruption scandals to do with the construction industry in Spain but was soon arrested and brought to justice.
Today, thankfully the P.G.O.U (Plan General de Ordenacion Urbana) who are responsible for general planning and building permission, amongst many other things, have done a wonderful job of cleaning up Marbella and bringing back it’s great reputation and, with a new Mayor and a new law passed, ensuring it would never be possible for history to repeat itself, the town has certainly moved on, bringing back an influx of buyers from Scandanavia, Holland, Belgium and gobally as far as Dubai, Australia and Canada.
Although the property market has been very tough across Spain, like many countries, there has been a great recovery in the number of enquiries and sales in this special, glitzy, glamorous, town.
With hundreds of reasons as to why Marbella is a great place to live, not to mention 320 days a year of sunshine and great life style possibilities, its clear to see why buying a villa in Marbella, apartment or townhouse still remains a favourite ambition for many people around the world.
To learn more about Marbella click here to visit the official Andalucia tourist information site.
