Estepona: The New Marbella?
For the past 40 years Marbella has been, and still remains the premier resort destination for holidaymakers on the Costa Del Sol. With this popularity the property industry boomed, with so many people falling in love with its world renowned beaches, restaurants, shops and entertainment on offer, and deciding to make it their second home.
This has made property prices become unaffordable for many people seeking to buy in Marbella and the surrounding neighbourhoods and urbanizations. A new trend over the past 5 years there has been an extreme rate of new property development in the area between San Pedro and Estepona, with many seeking the lower property prices and the quaint small town feel away from the fast-paced lifestyle of Marbella.
Estepona and Marbella are sister cities, and both draw huge numbers of vacationers every summer
Marbella and nearby Puerto Banús are important tourist destinations on the Costa del Sol.
The new development in Estepona resembles how Marbella expanded from a fishing village to a resort town in the 1960s and 70s after it became a popular holiday destination. In many ways Estepona owes this influx to the success of Marbella, but in this new century Estepona may have an advantage as it has plenty of space to expand with modern development projects.
Buildings in Marbella have aged since the rapid growth of the past century and so there is not much more room to expand and modernize. This means good news for Estepona where land value is more affordable and big development companies have an opportunity for lower construction costs and therefore higher profit margins.
Blue and white tiled streets flanked by flowers are a key feature of Estepona’s charm.
Estepona and Marbella might now seem at odds and unreconcilable rivals? But this is not the case, with the development of Estepona and the areas around it such as Cancelada and the entire urban conurbation between it and Marbella, I see an opportunity for economic growth.
The new influx increases population density and therefore allows for the economy of the entire area to expand and it may breathe life into the tourist-dependent economy struggling after the COVID-19 Pandemic, and this greatly benefits Marbella as it is an urban centre that has a wide assortment of amenities and services to offer: more customers equals better business.
Estepona is rapidly expanding, with many new construction projects
Will Estepona become the new Marbella? The answer is not so short and sweet as a “yes” or “no”. I would like to think that the answer is both, that the beautiful area between Marbella and Estepona that I am so privileged to call home will not be so binary, but rather it will become symbiotic, that both would benefit from the increased growth and modernization and remain one of the greatest resort destinations in Europe (as it so rightly deserves).
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