Living in Marbella old town: what you do not see on a visit
Narrow whitewashed streets, pedestrian for the most part, with the Plaza de los Naranjos at the centre. People live out in the street here. Living in the old town of Marbella gives you something you will not find anywhere else on this coast, and one drawback worth facing before anything else: the parking.
Who lives in the old town
Lifelong residents alongside younger people and a good number of foreigners who bought precisely for the village feel. There are holiday lets too, and you notice them.
What the area is like
In summer there are tourists at all hours. In winter the neighbourhood gets itself back, and that is when you understand why the people who live here do not move.
The daily shop
Small shops, greengrocers and local trade at street level, with supermarkets a few minutes on foot. You do not need a car for the daily shop.
Schools
There are schools in Marbella a short distance away, but the old town itself is not a school district. Most families walk or drive a few minutes.
Green space
The Alameda park and the seafront promenade do the work, and both are a short walk. Inside the old town there is little green of its own: what there is are squares.
Getting around, and the car problem
You walk to almost everything in the centre, the beach included: ten minutes. To leave Marbella you need a car or the bus, and the motorway is a few minutes away.
Parking is the big problem here. Many streets are pedestrian and parking on the surface is a trial. Either you have a space or you budget for a paid one every month. Put it in the numbers from the start.
Bars, terraces and noise
Bars, restaurants and terraces everywhere, and plenty of movement until late in the squares. If you want quiet, choose the street carefully: inside the old town there are enormous differences from one to the next.
The best and the worst of it
The best: living in an Andalusian old town with the beach ten minutes away on foot. There are not many places like that on this coast.
The worst: the parking, and the noise on the bar streets. And many of the houses are old. Check the wiring and plumbing, check for damp, and check whether there is a lift before you commit, because those three things change what the refurbishment really costs.
