Having lived in Spain since March 1990 – 22 years now WOW!! – my first stop was at Montemar Bajo, the area where Hotel Pez Espada is. We met the owners of a bar called The Gulls and started getting on well with them. We had already leased a bar in the centre of Torremolinos but it was quiet so we decided to look for something better. So we eventually decided on leasing out The Gulls Bar – next to the Pink Elephant – and there we ran the bar for the next 3 years as Roy, Dot and Ali – my dad, my stepmum and me.
That was the time where there were PROPER chiringuitos on the beach with their corregated iron roofs, their tables on the sand and just the openness of the way they were setup. They were scattered all over the place as well as one of my favourite English ones that was right next to Santa Clara rock in Torremolinos called The three barrels. The promenade didn’t exist like it does now, you couldn’t just walk round the rock and to the other side of the Pez Espada all there were was sand banks and a pretty primitive way to get to Puerto marina. At that time the port was fairly new, the three islands didn’t exist and a lot of the shops and restaurants there were just empty shells. I hadn’t even visited Puerto banus at this time even, I just thought the place looked really modern and cool.
When I eventually DID go to visit Marbella a little more and stop off at Puerto Banus I must admit I was taken back by the layout of the place. There were some very nice yachts and obviously you cant say that the cars you see there weren’t very flash!! It was very much a paradise I thought, there was something for everyone but it was so very expensive!! As they say though “you get what you pay for” but then I started thinking of Puerto Marina in Benalmadena Costa and I thought well this is all very nice but right on my doorstep I have a marina also and I had to say it was just as good as Puerto Banus. I am not knocking Puerto Banus, each to their own and as I said it is a wonderful place to visit and if you have the money to live there.
A lot of our customers at the bar would come to us and say they had been to Puerto Banus and how amazing the place was with which I agreed but I always said to them that I felt Puerto Marina, right along the road was just as good as Puerto Banus. Years later as the port in Benalmadena Costa has grown and new features have been added to the port, Antonio Banderas buying an apartment there and Sealife setting up there also you realised that the place had potential. With the three islands there now and the added shops, restaurants and nightclubs the port had a lot of character. The recession has laid waste to a lot of great businesses there but I still say without a doubt that Puerto Marina in Benalmadena Costa is just as good as Puerto Banus.
I’m originally from Birmingham. I’ve been a fan of Marilyn Monroe since I was six years old, when I came upon a book of her at the library. I didn’t know who she was
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PUERTO MARINA JUST AS GOOD AS PUERTO BANUS?