i'll admit that i'd never wanted to visit the costa del sol,
dismissing it as a concrete jungle devoid of any culture,
but i was passing through anyway and it was off season and after a bit of research
i realized that i might be wrong! so come with me to be surprised by Marbella and Puerto Banús.
Marbella is a city of over 100 000 people but the population of the urban area swells to over half
a million in the summer months - as you enter the city from the west it feels more like california
before suddenly you appear in what looks like another modern spanish city - but Marbella holds
a large secret, away from the busy streets lies an old town that's almost traffic free
and pretty much unchanged in centuries. It was the caliphate of cordoba that
built a large fortress here La Alcazaba and the streets that surround it are almost unchanged
since those days. In 1485 there was a peaceful transition of power from muslim rule to christian
rule and the spanish set about making some changes to the urban landscape principally by
creating some much needed public squares, the main one of those is la Plaza de los Naranjos
or orange tree square - the imposing building on the north side of the square is the ayuntamiento,
the town hall built, at that time it remains in operation to this day.
My accommodation is la villa marbella a collection of tastefully renovated
houses in the old town which together are about as far away as you could possibly get
from a typical hotel on the costa del sol!
it's half past nine in the morning and it feels like i'm walking around an isolated
andalusian hilltop village - not the center of a large modern city!
now the narrow alleyways of the old town are captivating during the day
but at night it feels like you've walked onto a film set!
it's great fun to aimlessly wander the streets of the old town at night discovering
charming little street chapels and hidden squares - just one problem though, i'm not quite sure
where my hotel is! Now there are two museums here in Marbella that you should find time to visit,
the engravings museum and the museo Ralli which is on the road out to puerto Banús - unfortunately
though if you time your visit for a sunday and monday like i have you'll find that they're shut,
but fear not because there's world-class public art here too courtesy of Salvador Dalí -
now of course if you're a big fan of Dalí then the place of pilgrimage is the museum in Figureres in
Catalunya but here on the Avenida del Mar, right in the city centre, you get the chance
to get up close and personal with these weird and wonderful creations. I've read that the sculptures
were purchased for the city by Jesus Gil now jesus Gil ran this city in the 90s and was a,
well, controversial figure, he was a populist and extremely outspoken not
only in politics but also in football as he was the president of Atletico Madrid - his
reign ended perhaps predictably in a corruption scandal but at least he left one abiding legacy
to the city. The final sculpture on the avenue is by the spanish artist eduardo soriano
"To the liberty of expression", i couldn't agree more. Now from works of art in bronze
to those of the edible variety, i'm going to pop in for a quick coffee and breakfast
at my favorite little cafe here in Marbella and then we'll catch a bus to Puerto Banús
now i love socialist realism, the bigger
the better, but it's really surreal to see such an enormous example here on the costa del sol,
then again if the mayor of Moscow wants to send you a gift it's very rude not to accept!
as you enter the town you cannot fail to miss the rhinoceros, the three ton rhinoceros,
courtesy of the surreal mind of Salvador Dalí - its full title is rhinoceros dressed in lace
and it is absolutely magnificent, I've e seen photos
but they don't do it justice. It was donated to the town in 2004 and whilst the idea of public
art is for as many people to see it as possible, and sitting here it certainly gets seen every day,
i do question whether this incredible piece of art might deserve better than a traffic island!
Puerto Banús a world famous millionaires playground but when i was born there was nothing
here at all - so what's the story. It's all about tourism, the age of tourism really began here
in 1954 with the opening of the Marbella club hotel which attracted royals from across Europe
to enjoy this sun-drenched part of Spain it wasn't long before celebrities followed and after then
a few less savoury characters as well, as long as they had money. Then the real money started
arriving with the likes of king Fahd of Saudi Arabia. With more and more money arriving to
this part of Andalucía the developer Jose Banús saw a great opportunity he teamed up with the
architect Noldi Shrek who had fame for work in Mexico and more importantly Beverly Hills.
Now it helped that Banús was a great friend of General Franco so he had no problem at all getting
all the permissions that he needed and what he created here with his architect was an entirely
purpose-built village for the rich and famou. In 1970 the complex was opened with a lavish party
which served 22 kilos of beluga caviar to its guests and had a certain singer named
julio iglesias as the cabaret act! the motto of the local tourist office is "like no other"
and there's absolutely nobody that can disagree with that. If you're curious to
see what a cocktail of Andalusia Dubai and Los Angeles might look like then this is your place,
personally though i'm gonna head back to the old town in Marbella
i was wrong to think that there was no culture - here
the city and its surroundings offer something for literally everybody, but the highlight
for me has to be the old town and what's even better is that at any time of the day
you only have to dive down one alleyway and you'll find yourself completely alone. That's
all that i've got time for so please subscribe to the channel and i'll see you on the next journey