The Marbella shopping experience

Louise Swan, December 2016 | Local News and Information

There are select places that offer a style and quality of life that few can match, and Marbella is one of them. The classic ingredients of the lifestyle include quite possibly the best climate in Europe, an outdoor way of life made up of sport, socialising and café society, and first-class amenities within a fantastic natural setting.

Luxury resort hotels, sumptuous spas and fine dining restaurants form an important part of this mix, but Marbella would be remiss if it didn’t also offer great shopping, both in variety, style and quality. The shopping experiences are therefore highly varied for the area they serve, offering a combination of shopping malls, luxury boutiques and designer stores, traditional shops and the rustic charm of Marbella’s historic quarter.

Marina shopping

One of the epicentres for retail therapy in Marbella is the glamorous marina of Puerto Banús, where you will find not only luxury labels such as Dior, Chanel, Prada, Hermès, Armani and Hugo Boss in the yacht harbour itself, but also a very comprehensive El Corte Inglés department store that stocks everything from designer gear and sportswear to electronics, furniture and gourmet food. The surrounding shops and smaller Marina Banus mall offer a further helping of jewellery shops, fashion outlets and attractive cafes at which to catch your breath between bouts of shopping.

Town shopping

Marbella’s downtown area offers another retail experience along its palm-lined Avenida Ricardo Soriano, which runs through the main section of the centre. Here are boutiques, shoe shops, jewellers, pharmacies and everything from phone shops to opticians, with cafes and tapas bars conveniently set in between. Turn up from the avenue and you enter the pedestrianised old quarter, where it is a pleasure to stroll along antique shops, elegant fashion outlets and establishments selling traditional crafts.

La Cañada

The main reference for the region’s shoppers, however, is La Cañada, a large modern shopping mall that features fashion, accessories, home decorations, furniture, food, health products and much more. A popular meeting point, it becomes even busier on those rare rainy days, when especially the likes of the expansive Apple store fill up with shoppers. Convenient parking adds to a good array of shops to produce a fun family shopping environment, while for those with a penchant for a bargain there are also the weekly markets held across the coastal area.

If you don’t mind a little drive, Fuengirola and Málaga also offer excellent shopping, notably at the Myramar Center, Plaza Mayor and at the stylish Calle Larios in the elegant historic centre of Málaga. It offers all the panache of big city rambling along a grand pedestrian high street lined with chic shops and eateries.

With this range of options available, the shopping experience on the Costa del Sol is characterised by choice, variety and quality retail in the sun.

You can email me directly on callum@callumswan.com or leave your details here, I would be delighted to assist.

Callum

Callum Swan, Marbella luxury estate agent +34 952 81 06 08