Marbella
Marbella, Spain | |
|---|---|
|
Flag Seal | |
 Location of Marbella | |
| Municipality | Málaga |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Without Mayor |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Total | 124,333 |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Website | http://www.marbella.es/ |
Marbella is a city in Andalusia, Spain, by the Mediterranean, situated in the region of Málaga, beneath the Sierra Blanca. In 2000 the city had 98,823 inhabitants, in 2004, 116,234.
Marbella is an important beach resort of the Costa del Sol. The town is famous for being a favourite destination for wealthy tourists from Northern Europe. The area around Marbella is particularly popular with those who like Golf.
It is easy to reach other places, like Malaga and Algeciras, by bus. The area is also served by the A7 autovia, and the closest airport is at Malaga.
History of Marbella
Archaeological excavations have been made in the mountains around Marbella, which point at human habitation in Paleolithic and Neolithic times. There are also remains of Phoenician and later Carthaginensian settlements in the area of Rio Real. In Roman times, the city was called Salduba
During Islamic rule, Muslims built a castle in this city, and they surrounded it by walls. The name Marbella, which is derived from Marbil-la, dates from this Islamic era. In 1485, the Spaniards reconquered the city, and during the centuries that followed, the city grew.
In the 40s, Marbella was a small village with only 900 inhabitants, when the Prince Max Egon zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg and his heir Alfonso of Hohenlohe broke their Rolls-Royce near the place. It was the first touch of Alfonso with the place but got so impressed that decided to buy lands and exploit the town touristically. In 1954 he opened the Hotel Marbella Club that, in spite of its name, was far from being a conventional tall and impersonal building but a resort with traditional low houses among 23.000 trees. He soon convinced other noble european families to move there and enjoy a discreet luxury. Alfonso de Mora y Aragón, a Spanish socialite and brother to the queen Fabiola of Belgium was also a frequent vacationer.
In 1974 the Prince Fahd arrived at the city after having broken the bank of the Casino of Montecarlo. Until his death in 2005 he was the dearest and most profitable guest of Marbella, where his retinue of over thousand people spending petro-dollars was welcome, including the then-anonymous Osama bin Laden.
In the eighties the most known face was Gunilla von Bismarck, who represented the jet set. In 1987 the kidnap of Melody Nakachian, daughter of a weapons struggler and the Korean princess and singer Kimera, put the city in the focus of the media.
In 1991 the builder and president of Club Atlético de Madrid, Jesús Gil y Gil was elected by wide majority for mayor of Marbella for his own party, the Independent Liberal Group (GIL in Spanish), promising to fight petty crime and the loss of glamour. He used as international image of the city to the actor Sean Connery who later renounced after his image was used for electoral purpose by Gil.
During his rule, the city experimented extensive building activity, often without regard for the existing urban plan. New plans were stopped by the Andalusian government. Spanish celebrities spent summers there. The maverick style of Gil's was apparent as he despised town-hall formalities ruling from his office at the Club Financiero. He was criticised by the major parties of Spain (PSOE and People's Party) that however could not convince enough voters to oust him. The presence of criminal lords from the Russian mafia was also criticised. Gil's GIL extended to other Costa del Sol towns like Estepona and across the Strait of Gibraltar to the Spanish African cities of Ceuta and Melilla.
This period brings an appraisal of the city but also suspects and investigations of corruption begin. Jesús Gil had to resign in 2002, after being jailed for diverting public funds for Atlético. He was succeeded by Julián Muñoz, a former waiter then well-known for being romantically engaged with singer Isabel Pantoja with more than one hundred trials for corruption hanging on. Muñoz was overthrown by his own party which elected as new mayor to Marisol Yagüe, a former secretary. Muñoz and Gil took part in a scandalous debate in television were both accused each other of having robbed public funds. The situation exploded in March 2006, when Yagüe was also jailed when the city council was near bankruptcy. According to the attorney, Muñoz and Yagüe were puppets in the hands of Antonio Roca, a councilman who got the job after failing in private business and gathered a huge wealth while working as a public servant. While Yagüe was in jail the council was run by Tomás Reñones, a former Atlético de Madrid football player. On April 8 the Spanish government decided to suspend the council. That was the first time such a decision was taken in Spanish democracy.
Sights in and around Marbella
- Prison of Alhaurín de la Torre
- Olivia Valere (Upscale restaurant, bar and disco)
- Arabian wall
- Bonsai museum
- Museo del Grabado Español Contemporáneo
- Old city centre
- Playa de la Bajadilla (beach)
- Playa de Fontanilla (beach)
- Puerto Banús, a marina built by José Banús where Rolls-Royces and Ferraris meet yachts.
Marbella in the media
Santiago Segura's Torrente comedy film series took its second part Torrente 2: Misión en Marbella (2001, the highest grossing Spanish film ever) to Marbella, where the repulsive cop José Luis Torrente meets the kitsch inhabitants of the city in an intrigue of international politics.
Marbella was featured in the popular political thriller, "Syriana". It was used as the location for a private party which an Arabian Emir hosts. Marbella was portrayed as an extremely affluent city with most cars at the entrance of the palace being very expensive. In the same year it appeared in Steven Spielberg "Munich" in a very similar context.
Sean Connery used to live in Marbella, near a golf course where he played daily when not filming. He left following disagreements with the local press, and now resides in the Bahamas where he plays golf much less frequently.
Antonio Banderas is a regular visitor to Marbella where he has a house in Los Monteros. He and Melanie Griffith have a daughter who was born in Marbella in 1999.
Many other movies & TV programmes such as Nip/Tuck portray it as a playground for the rich.
