Estepona, Malaga

Estepona

Estepona is a town and municipality in the region of the Costa del Sol, southern Spain. It is located in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. Estepona is renowned for its beaches, which stretch along some 21 km of coastline. It is a popular resort and holiday destination.

The official population is around 60,000, although this fluctuates with the arrival of tourists and non-registered foreigners.

Due to its natural environment, surrounded by the sea and Sierra Bermeja mountains, Estepona has a micro climate with over 325 days of sunshine per year.

Estepona has many facets which make it a popular holiday destination. It has two EC Blue Flag beaches, a marina area with many tapas bars and restaurants and a white-walled town offering shopping and picturesque squares.

Getting there

Gibraltar Airport is the nearest international airport serving Estepona. It is 45 km away and has direct flights to Madrid, London Gatwick, and London Luton. Málaga Airport is the next nearest international airport serving Estepona and is located approximately 80 km away. Estepona is served by the A7 Autovía which runs along the Costa del Sol. There is also a toll road, referred to as the AP7 Autopista, which provides faster travel along the route between Málaga and Estepona by-passing many of the urban areas along the route, such as Marbella. There are two toll stations en route and toll charges vary throughout the year. Normally you can travel from Málaga to Estepona for less than 10 euros in toll charges for a normal size car.

Estepona Port

Estepona Port and Marina is a working fishing port offering restaurants and bars. The port features daily auctions for a wide variety of seafood.

Local Beaches

"Playa del Cristo", or Cristo Beach, is five minutes West of Estepona Port. It is a small cove with lifeguards on station and also two "chiringuitos", beach front bar/restaurants. La Rada Beach is 2 minutes East of Estepona Marina and at over 1.5km in length runs from the Marina past Estepona old town.

Restaurants & Eating Out

Estepona is not known for the "night club" culture found in some areas on the Costa del Sol, but does have a wide variety of restaurants & bars, ranging from local Spanish cuisine to most Mediterranean cuisines, also cooked fish of different forms, Italian and French. Many restaurants offer terraces allowing diners to eat outside during the late evening. Many restaurants offer multilingual menus with entries in English or German.

Most restaurants are located near the seafront, either along the main promenade adjoining the sea or along Calle Real. There are a number of small Plazas or squares next to Calle Real, on which numerous restaurants can be found.

Fast food restaurants are also present, but are not as numerous as most other European cities. There is a single McDonald's restaurant at the edge of the town, close to Carrefour, and a small Burger King located along the main seafront promenade.

Shopping

Estepona's small local shops offer locally made produce and goods. In the main town centre there are a number of boutiques offering contemporary international clothing brands and other goods. There is also a busy Wednesday market featuring clothing as well as food and vegetables. Estepona port holds a Sunday market for more of the "touristy" type of goods.

The main food stores in Estepona are the large Carrefour complex at the edge of the town, a smaller Carrefour express store in the middle of the town and a number of Mercadona supermarkets.

Estepona port has two supermarkets: a Supersol providing fresh produce, meat and seafood and an Open C'or a subsidiary of El Corte Inglés providing a selection of convenience style foods. Fresh meat, fish and vegetables may also be purchased at the old, but recently renewed, indoor-market, in the centre of town.

There are no large shopping complexes in Estepona. The nearest large department stores are the La Cañada complex just off the north ringroad of Marbella or the El Corte Inglés department store in Puerto Banús, just before Marbella. Both can be accessed by traveling east from Estepona towards Málaga on the A7.

In the old town you can find the usual range of small-to-medium-sized shops, typical of a Spanish town of this size.

In addition there is a factory outlet complex about 60 km west from Estepona, at Guadacorte, close to Algeciras.

Places of Interest

Gibraltar 40 minutes drive from Estepona, Gibraltar offers duty free shopping from electronic equipment and jewellery to leather & perfumes. Haggling is customary. Other attractions in Gibraltar include the natural caverns of St. Michael's Caves and the Ape's Den, home to some of Gibraltar's Barbary Apes, the only free-to-roam primates in Europe.

Puerto Banus Puerto Banus is an upscale community about 30 minutes drive away from Estepona Port with a large number of designer stores, including Versace and Armani.

Selwo Safari Park The park is based on the African safari park and houses 2000 animals in semi-wild conditions. Only 20 minutes drive away from Estepona Port (and on the public transport route).

Golf

There are plenty of golf courses with easy reach of Estepona however 2 come highly recommended:

Estepona Golf Course is located on the inland side of the main coastal road (N340) at km. 150, just one mile from Estepona town centre. The course is set against the Sierra Bermeja mountain range, and enjoys sea views from most parts of the course. The fairways are wide and the greens large, which provides a challenge for players of all levels, but doesn't penalise the average golfer.

Monte Mayor Golf and Country Club is signposted from km. 165.6 on the N340 and is nestled in a natural amphitheatre created by the Serrania de Ronda Mountains. The greens have not been shaped by bulldozers, but by the wild Andalusian nature. With its exciting fairway that winds through dramatic gullies, ravines and streams, Monte Mayor offers a superb challenge to even the most experienced golfers.

Monuments

* The Town Clock Tower.

* The San Luis Castle.

* The Church of Los Remedios.

* The Original Bullring.

Local celebrations

* San Isidro Labrador, agricultural religious celebrations on the 15th of May.

* Ferias y Fiestas mayores, annual town festival at the beginning/start of July.

* Quema de los bigotes de San Juan, traditional night celebration of the 23 June.

* Virgen del Carmen, fishermen religious celebrations on the 16th of July.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Estepona