La Morera 712

Where the coast began

Living in Marbella

Marbella stretches 27 kilometres along the Mediterranean, warmed by more than 320 days of sun a year. It is a city of contradictions in the best sense, Roman ruins a short walk from superyachts, whitewashed lanes a few minutes from designer boulevards. Today it is home to residents from over 155 nationalities, with more than a third of the population arriving from abroad.

• Built inside walls that once held off Berber pirates, the old town keeps a 16th-century layout of narrow streets designed to break the wind and trap the shade. Orange trees still line Plaza de los Naranjos, their fruit too bitter for eating but perfect for the city's annual marmalade tradition. Renaissance churches, family bodegas and a 17th-century town hall share the same cobblestones, and on summer evenings the entire quarter becomes an open-air dining room as locals pull tables onto the streets.
• West of the centre, the Golden Mile delivers five-star resorts and beach clubs along a single four-kilometre boulevard. Inland, Sierra Blanca and Cascada de Camoján offer hillside privacy. East, Los Monteros, Las Chapas and Elviria open onto wide sandy beaches and the protected Artola dunes. Most residents end up belonging to two or three of these neighbourhoods at once.
• International education runs deep here, with the British International School of Marbella, EIC, Aloha College, Colegio San José and Swans all within the municipality. Healthcare is among the best on the coast, anchored by Quirónsalud Marbella, HC Marbella International Hospital and the public Hospital Costa del Sol just west in Marbella, San Pedro. Golfers have more than fifteen courses inside the municipality, including Río Real, Santa Clara, Marbella Golf and Santa Clara Golf Marbella.