Surroundings

Casa Alejandro is on the Costa del Sol in a residential area named Costabella, 5km eastwards of Marbella. Our holiday home is facing the sea and its visitors can enjoy all the delights of a beautiful beach with its fishermen in the mornings and sunset at night. But there is so much more to see. The province of Andalucía knows a large diversity of art and culture, impressive nature, beautiful cities, authentic traditions and a unique kitchen with Moorish influences. We hope you will also enjoy these treasures.

La Playa

Costabella’s sandy beach is a perfect place to start the day with jogging, café con leche or a fresh morning dive. Clean beaches, an interesting mix of locals and tourists and a relaxed atmosphere makes you feel like a guest. You can see Marbella, Gibraltar and on a clear day Morocco. In the evening, the coastal line is illuminated with the lights of Marbella and numerous chiringuitos (definition: open-all-sides café-bar/restaurant located on the beach). An example is our neighbour “Karma Beach” with high quality food for a reasonable price.

Extra’s on the beach:

• Freshwater beach showers
• Sunbeds with parasol to rent for little
• Drinks brought to your sunbed if desired
• Really relaxing foot and body massages (10€ / 20 min)

Los supermercados

The supermarket SuperCOR is at 5 minutes walking distance and is open all-year round between 8am in the morning to 2am at night. Prices are a little higher but it is practical when arriving late from the airport or to start the morning with a fresh baguette. Personnel is friendly and is happy to help you with anything you need or look for.

At a five minute drive, you’ll find a Lidle and a Mercadona on the other side of the N340 (the coastal road between Málaga and Marbella and beyond). On the way from the airport to Casa Alejandro you can make a stop there by taking the exit half a mile after the Elviria exit. The two supermarkets together offer an excellent selection of Spanish and international products.

Eating establishments

You can find various places to eat in the vicinity. As mentioned above, there is our neighbour “Karma Beach”, a bar-restaurant where you can enjoy during the day a drink at your sunbed. The kitchen is, in summer time, open to 24:00 and food is of high quality. Friendly personnel and a fantastic interior and exterior.

Take your slippers off and walk on bare feet along the beach facing the sunset towards Marbella. You’ll be seduced by a variety of chiringuitos, many offering you the Catch of the Day.

Beside SuperCOR you’ll find a Chinese restaurant and, more to our liking, we have an Indian delivery service a phone call away (telephone numbers can be found in Casa Alejandro).

Marbella

Marbella, at a ten minute drive from our holiday home, is a mundane, modern city that despite its international character, still retains an authentic Spanish look and feel. In order to appreciate Marbella, one has to enter the old inner core with its typical Andalucían whitewashed houses, squares, narrow streets leading to dead-end stairs and flowerpots and the famous Moorish defence wall.

In the modern part you’ll find a find a mix of small local shops amidst the larger well known chain stores. Parks such as Parque de la Alameda with its ceramic benches offer aside from refreshment, a sense of couleur locale.

The Paseo Marítimo is miles long and on this beautiful beach boulevard you’ll find many shops, massage booths, skaters and beach-volleyball players, and of course local chiringuitos to have a bite to eat.

Marbella is known for its mix of locals, jet set and tourists.

• easy to park in one of its many parkinggarages
• within a stone’s throw of Casa Alejandro
• easy to go to by public transport

Ronda

Ronda is the oldest city in Spain and not only the city but also the way down there is spectacular. The route (approximately an hour and a quarter) across winding mountain roads leading to this historical city (we consider it more a village) at a height of 750 meters is an experience on its own. The ‘Corrida Goyesca’ is a unique and historical bullfight that takes place once a year in Ronda in the Plaza de Toros de Ronda, the oldest bullfighting ring in Spain. The Puente Nuevo is the tallest of the three bridges, towering 390 ft above the El Tajo canyon floor.

For those who have no fear of heights and love the beauty of nature, Ronda is a real treasure. There is even a restaurant stuck to the cliffs. Do you dare to have a bite to eat there?

In Ronda you can taste the medieval Spanish culture. If you’re lucky, you’ll end up in the midst of a local feria with horses, music and flamenco-singers in traditional dresses.

The route down to Ronda is also amazing. Parque Natural de la Sierra de las Nieves centres on La Torrecilla with nearly 6,000 feet the highest point of the range, and covers an area of 115 square miles. This mountainous area has a rich variety of flora and fauna. Historically there has been little human influence or agricultural activity in the mountains, which can be snow-covered in the winter, hence their name in Spanish

In 1995 it was declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. You can walk here for hours and the quietness is deafening. Don’t forget to bring a sufficient amount of water!