One Marbella

🥘 Mijas has apparently found the correct way to say thank you.

With paella.

Tomorrow, Wednesday 23 September, Mijas celebrates its annual Tourist Day in Plaza Virgen de la Peña, with entertainment including flamenco and a free giant paella tasting. The event traditionally marks the closing stretch of the summer season and recognises the visitors who contribute to the town's tourism economy.

And frankly, this seems much better than receiving a thank-you email.

But here's the thing.

Even after living on the Costa del Sol for years, events like this are still worth going to.

Because Mijas Pueblo on a normal day is already rather difficult to make ugly.

Whitewashed houses.

Mountain views.

Mediterranean below.

Little streets.

Terraces.

Add flamenco, people gathering in the square and an enormous pan of paella and you've basically reached maximum Andalucía. 😂

There is, however, an important piece of etiquette whenever somebody announces free paella.

You cannot arrive twenty minutes after everybody else and then look surprised that there's a queue.

The British discovered queuing long before they discovered the Costa del Sol. We should know better.

😂

And Mijas has another busy week ahead: from 24–27 September, its long-running Villa de Mijas Theatre Festival celebrates its 40th edition, with four performances at the Miguel González Berral auditorium in La Muralla. Performances begin at 21:00 and admission is free.

So this week you could theoretically have:

Wednesday: free paella 🥘
Thursday: theatre 🎭
Friday: more theatre 🎭
Saturday: more theatre 🎭
Sunday: more theatre 🎭

Which is considerably more cultured than our original plan of:

“Shall we just go for lunch?”

👇 But let's settle the important question:

PAELLA 🥘 / FLAMENCO 💃 / BOTH — OBVIOUSLY 😂

🏡 Nobody moves to Spain dreaming about a storage room.

Then they actually move to Spain.

And suddenly...

the trastero (storage room) becomes prime real estate. 😂

Think about everything that follows you into a permanent Costa del Sol home:

✈️ Suitcases
🏖️ Beach chairs
⛳ Golf clubs
🚲 Bicycles
🎄 Christmas decorations
🧳 Visitors' luggage
🏊 Pool equipment
📦 And approximately 37 boxes containing things nobody has opened since leaving Britain

During a property viewing, buyers understandably concentrate on kitchens, terraces, bedrooms and views.

Storage?

"Yes, yes, very nice. Where's the pool?"

Six months later they're attempting to fit two bicycles, four suitcases and an inflatable flamingo into the guest bedroom.

Suddenly that little locked room downstairs looks magnificent. 😂

This is something I'd consider when viewing modern apartments and townhouses around La Alcaidesa, particularly if the property is going to become a permanent home rather than somewhere used for occasional holidays.

Look beyond the headline square metres.

Where will everyday life actually go?

Is there a proper utility area?

Storage beside the parking?

Cupboards deep enough to be useful?

Somewhere secure for bikes or golf equipment?

Space for suitcases without turning Bedroom Three into Heathrow Terminal 5?

None of this photographs particularly well.

Nobody has ever clicked on a property portal and shouted:

“DARLING! COME QUICKLY! LOOK AT THE CUPBOARD!”

But good storage can make a surprisingly significant difference to how comfortable a property is to live in.

Especially when relocating from a larger house abroad into a Costa del Sol apartment.

Sometimes the least glamorous square metres are among the most useful ones you buy.

👇 You can only have one:

BIGGER BEDROOM 🛏️ or PROPER STORAGE 📦?

🚗 Something slightly unexpected is happening in a small Málaga village today.

More than 150 American cars and motorcycles are descending on La Viñuela.

Yes.

La Viñuela.

Not Las Vegas. 😂

Today, Sunday 20 September, the village hosts the second Road to Oasis gathering, bringing together classic American vehicles and motorcycles from across Málaga province and Andalucía.

And visually, this should be brilliant.

Imagine traditional white Andalusian buildings…

Mountains…

Olive trees…

Then suddenly:

🇺🇸 Enormous American classics
🏍️ Motorcycles
🚘 Chrome everywhere
😎 And probably several cars longer than the average Spanish parking space

It's difficult to think of a better example of the wonderfully random things you can stumble across when you venture away from the coast on a Sunday.

The event celebrates American motoring culture and nostalgia, with vehicles from different eras — including models associated with cinema and popular motoring culture.

And this is precisely why we'd occasionally suggest ignoring the beach and heading inland.

Some of the most entertaining Costa del Sol weekends happen when you take a road you've never taken before and discover what's happening in the villages behind the coast.

Although arriving at an Andalusian pueblo and finding 150 American cars probably wasn't on anybody's bingo card.

One practical consideration…

If somebody turns up in a gigantic 1960s Cadillac, please allow them approximately three working days to parallel park it. 😂

👇 Which one would you take home?

1950s CRUISER 🚘 / 1960s MUSCLE CAR 💪 / CLASSIC MOTORBIKE 🏍️ / MY LITTLE SPANISH CAR IS FINE 😂

🧘 Marbella has apparently decided we're all a little stressed.

And judging by some people's driving on the A-7…

they may have a point. 😂

This weekend Marbella is taking part in World Wellness Weekend, with more than 50 activities running across Marbella, Nueva Andalucía and San Pedro through Sunday. The programme includes yoga, Pilates, walking, boxing, massages, music and activities for families.

Which means there should be something for virtually everybody.

Yoga if you need calming down.

Boxing if yoga hasn't worked.

Massage if the boxing was perhaps a mistake.

And presumably another massage after you've looked at the bill from Friday night's dinner. 😂

But underneath the joke, there's something quite interesting about this.

We spend an enormous amount of time talking about the Costa del Sol in terms of:

🏡 Property
🌊 Beaches
🍽️ Restaurants
⛳ Golf
☀️ Weather

But the outdoor lifestyle is probably one of its biggest attractions for people who actually live here.

It's September.

The sun is still shining.

People are outside exercising.

You can walk beside the Mediterranean in the morning and still sit outside for dinner that evening.

That's difficult to put on property particulars.

But it's a pretty significant part of what people are actually buying when they relocate here.

And this weekend you've got a perfect excuse to try some of it.

Personally, though, I'm intrigued by the definition of wellness.

Because surely sitting beside the Mediterranean with a cold drink while doing absolutely nothing must qualify?

I'm calling it:

Horizontal Mediterranean Mindfulness.

Patent pending. 😂

👇 What's YOUR idea of wellness?

YOGA 🧘 / LONG WALK 🚶 / GYM 🏋️ / SUNBED & ABSOLUTELY NOTHING 🍹😂

Apparently you don't need to fly 7,500km from Marbella to experience a little taste of Cuba this weekend.

You just need to get yourself to San Pedro Boulevard.

From 17–20 September, the boulevard is hosting La Pequeña Cuba, a four-day gastro-cultural festival organised by Asociación Cubanos Unidos with support from Marbella Town Hall.

And this one sounds rather more entertaining than sitting at home deciding what to watch on Netflix.

Expect:

🍽️ Cuban food
🍹 Cocktails
🎶 Music
🕺 Entertainment
🛍️ Crafts
🇨🇺 And plenty of Cuban culture

The organisers describe it as a participatory celebration designed to introduce people to Cuban food, traditions and entertainment, while also bringing the area's Cuban community together.

Which presents us with a familiar Costa del Sol problem.

You go out saying:

“We'll just have a quick look.”

Then you smell the food.

Someone hands you a drink.

The music starts.

And three hours later you're attempting a dance you absolutely cannot do while your partner quietly pretends not to know you.

A perfectly normal Costa del Sol Saturday, really. 😂

There's actually something rather nice behind events like this too.

One of the things that makes the Marbella area interesting isn't simply the Spanish lifestyle.

It's the extraordinary mixture of nationalities who've made this part of Spain their home.

And occasionally everybody gets an excuse to share a little of where they came from.

This weekend it's Cuba's turn.

One important note: Saturday 19 September at 19:00 also includes a manifesto concerning the difficult economic and social situation in Cuba, so the festival combines the celebratory side of Cuban culture with a more serious moment for the community.

So who's tempted?

👇 And more importantly:

CUBAN FOOD 🍽️ / MUSIC 🎶 / COCKTAILS 🍹 / ALL THREE 😂

💶 Two apartments. Same development. Same number of bedrooms. One has the spectacular sea view.

Easy decision?

Not necessarily if you're buying as an investment.

It's very easy to fall in love with the property that makes the best photograph.

Top floor.

Huge terrace.

Mediterranean stretching across the horizon.

And yes — buyers and tenants may pay more for that.

But the important question isn't simply:

“Which apartment is better?”

It's:

“What am I paying for the difference — and what will that difference earn me?”

Imagine Apartment A costs €300,000.

Apartment B has the fabulous panoramic view but costs €365,000.

That extra €65,000 needs to do something.

Will it produce meaningfully higher rent?

Will it attract a stronger tenant?

Will it reduce vacancy?

Will it make the property significantly easier to sell later?

Or have you effectively bought a €65,000 view because you liked it?

That's an important distinction in investment-led purchases, particularly when looking at comparatively accessible coastal markets around La Duquesa.

I'd compare properties using the numbers first:

💶 Purchase price
🏠 Realistic achievable rent
📊 Gross and estimated net yield
🏢 Community costs
🔧 Likely maintenance
📅 Expected occupancy
📈 Resale appeal
🌊 Premium being paid for position and view

Then I'd look at something less mathematical:

Who is the eventual tenant?

A permanent tenant may value parking, storage, sensible room sizes and easy access more than a gigantic terrace.

A remote worker may prioritise another usable room.

A retired couple may care enormously about lifts and walkability.

The best investment isn't automatically the cheapest property.

And it isn't automatically the most beautiful.

It's the property where the purchase price, likely tenant demand and eventual exit strategy make sense together.

Sometimes that's the penthouse with the breathtaking Mediterranean view.

Sometimes it's the less glamorous apartment downstairs that quietly produces the better return.

👇 If it were your money:

BETTER VIEW 🌊 or BETTER YIELD 📈?

⛳ “Golf-front property.”

For a golfer, those three words can make a listing considerably more interesting.

Open the curtains.

Green fairways outside.

Mountains beyond.

Golf buggy waiting downstairs.

Perfect.

But here's the question I'd ask before paying a premium for it:

Where EXACTLY on the golf course is the property?

Because “golf-front” can mean very different things.

A home looking beautifully across a fairway can have a wonderful open outlook.

But a property positioned beside a tee, green, buggy route or maintenance area may have a rather different character.

In golf communities such as Los Arqueros, I'd want to understand the property's relationship with the course rather than simply seeing the word golf in the description.

If you're viewing one, I'd look at:

⛳ Position — fairway, green, tee or practice area?

☀️ Orientation — when does the terrace actually get sun?

👀 Privacy — how visible are you to passing golfers?

🚜 Maintenance — what's happening on the course early in the morning?

🏌️ Golf balls — is the property realistically in their firing line?

🔊 Buggy routes — is there regular traffic immediately outside?

And here's a particularly useful piece of viewing advice:

If golf is one of the reasons you're buying there, don't only view the property. Walk the course environment too.

See where the clubhouse is.

Find the access points.

Understand how long it genuinely takes to get from your front door to the first tee.

Because there is something rather wonderful about finishing breakfast, picking up your clubs and being on the course a few minutes later.

Even better when your partner plays too.

Although that creates an entirely different Costa del Sol problem:

Who's paying for lunch after losing? 😂

👇 Golfers — would you pay extra to have the fairway outside your terrace?

ABSOLUTELY ⛳ / NICE BUT NOT ESSENTIAL 🌴 / KEEP THE GOLF BALLS AWAY 😂

🚗 If you're considering retiring to the Costa del Sol, here's a slightly unusual test I'd try before choosing where to live.

Park the car for 48 hours.

Then see what happens.

Can you walk out for breakfast?

Can you buy groceries?

Is there a pharmacy nearby?

Can you meet friends for lunch?

Can you reach the beach?

Can you go out for dinner and comfortably walk home?

Or does every single thing begin with:

“Where are the car keys?”

When we're fit, active and newly retired, driving ten or fifteen minutes for everything may not feel remotely important.

But if you're choosing somewhere that could potentially be home for the next 15 or 20 years, I'd think a little further ahead.

That's where places such as La Cala de Mijas can become interesting.

The attraction isn't simply the beach.

It's having an established town where everyday life can happen within a relatively compact area.

And I'd argue that genuine walkability becomes more valuable as we get older, not less.

There's another benefit people don't always consider.

When you can walk into town, you tend to interact with it.

You see the same people.

You stop for coffee.

You bump into somebody you know.

You become part of a community rather than driving from your garage to another car park and back again.

Of course, plenty of people will always prefer a large villa in the hills with complete privacy — and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But if you're choosing your long-term retirement home, I'd ask yourself one uncomfortable but useful question:

“Would this location still work for us if one day only one of us wanted — or was able — to drive?”

That's not particularly glamorous property advice.

But it could prove considerably more important than whether the kitchen has a marble worktop.

Try the 48-hour test before buying.

You may discover that being able to walk for a loaf of bread is worth more than another 30m² of house.

👇 If you were choosing your retirement home:

WALK EVERYWHERE 🚶 or BIGGER HOME & DRIVE 🚗?

🏡 Here's a property-buying contradiction I see all the time.

The best-presented property gets the most attention.

The one with:

Perfect furniture.

Beautiful photography.

Fresh paint.

Designer cushions positioned with military precision.

Everyone wants to view it.

Then there's another apartment in the same area.

Same basic size.

Similar terrace.

Good community.

But the furniture is twenty years old, the walls need painting and the photographs make a perfectly decent home look like it was last updated when fax machines were exciting.

Nobody clicks on it.

And that's exactly why I'd sometimes want to see it.

Because presentation and property fundamentals aren't the same thing.

In established residential areas such as Atalaya, buyers can encounter older properties in good communities where the interior simply hasn't kept pace with the market.

The important question is:

Is it dated — or is it fundamentally wrong?

A dated kitchen can be replaced.

Old furniture can disappear.

Walls can be painted.

Lighting can be changed.

But it's considerably harder to renovate:

📍 A poor location
🌥️ A dark orientation
🚗 An inconvenient position
🔊 Unwanted noise
🏢 A badly maintained community
🌊 A view that doesn't exist

If you're buying with investment potential in mind, sometimes the opportunity isn't the property everybody immediately loves.

It's the one other buyers can't see past the furniture.

Of course, the numbers still need to work. Purchase costs, renovation budget and realistic resale or rental potential all matter.

But there's a useful discipline when viewing an ugly property:

Mentally remove everything that can be carried out through the front door.

Then decide whether you still dislike it.

You might be surprised.

So which buyer are you?

👇 READY-MADE & BEAUTIFUL ✨ or UGLY DUCKLING WITH POTENTIAL 🛠️?

🌴 “Could I actually live here without driving everywhere?”

For somebody retiring to the Costa del Sol, I think that's one of the most important questions you can ask.

Yet it's remarkably easy to forget when you're standing on the terrace of a beautiful property.

Because a spectacular hillside villa might give you:

🌊 Incredible views
🏊 A private pool
🌴 Beautiful gardens
☀️ Complete peace and privacy

But permanent life is also about Tuesday morning.

Where do you buy milk?

Can you walk somewhere for coffee?

How far is the pharmacy?

Can you reach restaurants without getting in the car?

And what happens if, five or ten years from now, you simply don't want to drive as much?

That's why walkability can become increasingly valuable when choosing a permanent home for retirement.

Areas such as La Cala de Mijas can appeal to buyers for precisely this reason: the everyday lifestyle can include the beach, shops, cafés, restaurants and normal town life rather than everything revolving around the car.

That doesn't automatically make a walkable apartment better than a secluded villa.

Far from it.

Some people dream of space, privacy and countryside.

Others want to step outside their front door and be part of a community.

But if you're planning a home for the next 10 or 20 years, I'd consider not only the lifestyle you want today…

but the lifestyle that might make life easier later.

There's a very simple test I like:

When viewing a property, imagine you've temporarily lost your car keys for a week.

Would you still enjoy living there?

If the answer is yes, you've learned something quite important about the location.

For retirement on the Costa del Sol, which would you choose?

👇 BIG VILLA & DRIVE 🚗 or WALKABLE APARTMENT 🚶?