| Estepona | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Location of Estepona | |||
| Municipality | Málaga | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Antonio Barrientos González | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 137 km2 (52.9 sq mi) | ||
| • Land | 137 km2 (52.9 sq mi) | ||
| • Water | 0.00 km2 (0 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2006) | |||
| • Total | 58,603 | ||
| • Density | 399/km2 (1,033.4/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Website | http://www.estepona.es/ | ||
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 now has many interesting facets which make it a popular and contemporary all year round holiday destination including two EC Blue Flag beaches, a modern sports marina with many tapas bars and restaurants and a white-walled town offering shopping and picturesque squares. Estepona was also earmarked in the early 1990s as the original site chosen by the Walt Disney organisation for their Eurodisney project ahead of Paris, France who were later awarded the installation.
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Some foundations and ceramics found in the town show the area was occupied at the time of the Romans. The name Estepona probably comes from the Moorish Astabbuna. Henry IV of Castile captured the town from the Moors in 1457. A church was built on the site of the previous mosque. In 1729 Estepona was granted its own charter by Philip V of Spain.[1]
Gibraltar Airport is the nearest international airport serving Estepona. It is 45 km away and has direct flights to Manchester, 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 and Marina is a working fishing port offering restaurants and bars. The port features daily auctions for a wide variety of seafood. The port is also the location of the Estepona street market - a collection of stalls selling numerous textile and leather goods mostly. The market is usually in Estepona on Sundays but it travels around the Málaga municipality to areas like Puerto Banús, Marbella, Casares, Torremolinos, Fuengirola and more.
Puerto Banús 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).
Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos de Estepona The exhibition and congress centre of Estepona is located opposite Carrefour supermarket on the eastern edge of Estepona - closest to Marbella. This centre is home to nearly all of Estepona's organised events including product presentations, fairs, commercial exhibitions, concerts and more.
"Playa del Cristo", or Christ 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 1.5 km in length runs from the Marina past Estepona old town. There is also the popular naturist/nudist beach of Costa Natura to the west of Estepona, which was the first official naturist site in Spain.
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.
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 Opencor, 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.
There are many golf courses around Estepona including: