Only 20 minutes from busy Marbella is this beautiful Malaga village, its whiteness against the green slopes of the spectacular Sierra Blanca forming an eye-catching contrast. Istan means "spring"; springs which flow richly from the village's numerous fountains and which, without doubt, account to a large degree for its peculiarity. The origins of the village date back to the middle of the fourteenth century , when, after the capture of Arboto castle by the Christian, its defenders fled, holing themselves up on the site of present-day Istan. At the end of the sixteenth century, at the outbreak of the Moorish rebellion, its inhabitants joined the uprising, only to be defeated by Ponce de Leon's troops.

The expulsion of the Moors was a hammer blow for the village, as at that time it was one of the richest places in the region thanks to the cultivation of silk and raisins. After the defeat of the Moorish rebellion, the village was repopulated by a number of families from the fertile regions of Murcia who spoke a dialect known as "panocho", with the result that the inhabitants of the village were henceforth known as "panochos".

The oldest, most important monument is the parish church, built in the sixteenth century on the orders of the Archbishop of Seville, Djego de Deza. Other interesting buildings are the cave which houses the Casa de la Juventud, the public wash house and the Arab tower, situated at the village's highest point which was once part of the old fortress which dominated the area from above.

The most traditional crafts in Istan are articles made from palm and esparto grass, ceramics and other cork-based crafts. The festive calendar begins with Holy Week and the religious procession of El Paso (a float telling the story of Easter). After this, San Marcos falls on 25 April and on the last Sunday before 29 September, to begin the San Miguel celebrations, the traditional "Tomilleria" takes place after early morning mass at the parish church. Finally, "La Tostoña" is another event which takes place on 1 November, AII Saint's Day, in which people go to the country to eat roast chestnuts, washed down with aguadiente (a strong liquer). Istan's cuisine is very rich and varied; it has over a dozen very appetising dishes to offer (soup, com soup, breadcrumbs, pickle, rice pudding, cabbage, cod with shellfish, tomato soup with prickly pears or grapes..) as well as a selection of excellent cakes.

As regards places of natural beauty, the Istan area marks the point where the Ronda mountain's meet the west of the Costa del Sol.

To the north stands the impressive mass of the Sierra Real (1.331 m.), acting both as a backdrop to the village and a catchment area for the water which makes up the Rio Verde reservoir, where "Castaño Santo" (the holy chestnut tree) stands, over 700 years old and declared the "Tree of Humanity". To the south-east lies another mountainous area, Sierra Blanca, taking over the reins from the previous range and extending the spectacular landscape almost as far as the coast to the peaks of La Zaina (1.141 m.) and El Lastonar (1.260 m.). Between the two ranges, the Rio Verde valley, before it reaches the aforementioned reservoir, contains areas of great scenic and ecological interest in La Dehesa de Bornoque, where masses of cork trees sweep down to the bottom of the valley mixing with small oaks and the occasional fir, and where large numbers of "Capra Hispanica" (Spanish capers) can be found. This area, along with ten others, has been declared a Bio spherical Reserve by UNESCO.