After Mijas comes Marbella, a beautiful garden with a beach, the jewel of the Costa del Sol and of the whole Mediterranean. Marbella holds a special charm for the visitor contrasting the sea, the mountains, the village and a cosmopolitan town of fishermen and golfers. From Capopino to Guadalmina, the coast is a beautiful beach of fine sand, punctuated only by the Cabopino, Marbella and Banus marinas. As for its origins, this area, so often rebuilt in recent decades, was graced by human presence very earley on. All indications are that the Carthagenians also passed through, judging from evidence found near the mouth of the River Verde. But it was the presence of the Romans which really left its mark, such as the remains of an ancient town, probably built in the first century, featuring several mosaics, also discovered near the aforementioned river mouth. Near San Pedro de Alcantara lies one of the most important Roman sites on the Costa del Sol: the Roman colony of Cilniana, seemingly destroyed by an earthquake in the fourth century.

During the Arab occupation, the western part of Marbella, known by the Romans as Barbesula, was renamed Barbella and its land, which was in the hands of the Benimerines in the thirteenth century , later became part of the kingdom of Granada until the conquest of the city by Christian troops in 1485. In the old town centre two defensive towers and the castle walls, of Mozarab origin, have survived from this period.

Marbella is the place to be on the Costa del Sol. Its pleasant climate has made in the meeting point and the permanent or sporadic residence of the popular "Jet Set", which fills so many pages in society magazines. Actors, artistes, multimillionaires, celebrities.The "beautiful people", who every summer make this a focus for gossip, exotic parties, and extravagant social occasions.

But it is not all leisure and entertainment, hospitable Marbella also has a significant historical and artistic side which is worth seeing: the church of La Encarnacion, the walls of the Moslem castle, the mosque where Moslems worship or the museum of contemporary Spanish engraving, in the majestic setting of the sixteenth-century Hospital Bazan, the most important of its kind in Spain, are ample proof of this.

As for handicrafts, there are master craftsmen in wood, marble, plaster, iron forging, tin and copper items, skins and leather, embroidery and openwork, garments, macrame and jewellery .

In the cullinary department, Marbella has a large and varied repertoire of quality restaurants of all nationalities, not forgetting, of course, our most typical fare in the shape of small fish, skewered sardines, shellfish and fresh seafood from the bay of Malaga.

Although new festivities have arisen as a result of tourism, the most traditional ones are still those which pay homage to the patron saint, San Bernabe, in the month of June, and those of the 20 October. June also sees a romeria (open-air party) in the Guadalpin pine groves, and in May there is another at the Cross of Juanar.

Scenically, Sierra Blanca, besides being a significant factor in the exceptional climatic conditions in the town and most of the area, is without doubt the most important feature of the Marbella region. The peaks of Marbella (1.215 m.) and El Juanar (1.160 m.), the latter being in the neighbouring locality of Ojen, crown a mountain landscape deeply moulded by erosion which contains areas of special beauty, such as the cliffs of La Concha (a name by which the Marbella peak is also known) or the valley of Puerto Rico.

So, with its combination of leisure, golf, celebrations, cuisine, countryside and social gatherings, Marbella is a luxury, a different way of life.