Francisco Moyano - Marbella

Marbella from the Past until the Present

There is evidence that around 15 or 20 families from inland Andalusian cities came to spend the summer in Marbella.They had clearly discovered the Marbella climate, sun and beaches of Marbella. This was perhaps due also to the gentry who, taking their cue from the Royal Family, used to spend their summer holidays in the North of Spain, also came to Malaga in the summer and therefore certain wealthy families may have also followed this trend. Whichever is the case, let’s just say that this was the forerunner of tourism.

After the Civil War, which took place between 1936 and 1939, and particularly during the post-war period in the mid 1940s, tourism began to increase in Marbella. This developed to produce a major boom from the 1960s onwards folowing the opening of the Marbella Club hotel and again during the 1990s with an enormous and disorganized growth in urban development.

Undoubtedly, one of the greatest attractions that has brought the people of Europe to Marbella and convinced them to stay and invest here has been the climate, that much is obvious. Without mentioning specifically beach and sun, we must admit that Marbella enjoys its own microclimate, which although much talked about, is nevertheless true.

"I am quite sure that there are very few places in the world that enjoy consistent temperatures the whole year round. Thanks to its geographical setting in the Sierra Blanca mountain range, Marbella is protected from any climatic extremes".

However, apart from this, Marbella also has a well-conserved landscape, despite the excessive building work. Its cultural-archaeological heritage is not very well known, but could well be developed, as in the case of sites such as the “Vega del Mar”, the  Vaults in San Pedro de Alcántara, the Alcazaba and the old town, all of which have been fairly well preserved and serve to show us a city of another time, a true city.