I read that recently the mayor of Marbella was arrested for taking bribes and issuing something like 30,000 illegal building permits for houses along the sea,which is a protected zone. If those 30,000 homes were in fact built, I would imagine that Marbella would have lost a bit of its lustre by now.

The mostly pedestrian-only town centre is a great place to wander around. There are lots of interesting boutiques lining the alleyways and there's a pretty photo op around every corner.

Marbella is at the far western end of the Costa del Sol, but worlds away in ambiance. Unlike the big package tour towns, Marbella is resolutely upscale. The town center is well preserved and immaculately kept. It looks like the walls are painted hourly, and then the most colourful flowers are draped all over the place. Having said that, you wouldn't really notice its upscale character on a day trip and the town centre isn't really remarkable but for its immaculate condition. The real wealth is out of town on the beachfront properties and big yachts moored nearby.

63. Marbella

After a couple of days in Mijas, we started exploring our surroundings. On Monday, most of the group headed across the sea for a daytrip into Morocco, but Somchai needed a visa (Thais need visas everywhere) so we stayed back. Instead we took a bus to the Spanish coastal town of Marbella. We had a lovely lunch under the orange trees in the town square pictured here.