Puerto Banus
So called by its ideologue and promoter, José Banús, this port, declared a national center of tourist interest and which holds the gold medal for tourist merit, has attracted millionaires, celebrities, tourists and curious from all over the world for 50 years. Puerto Banús, created in 1970, is part of the so-called “Golden Triangle”, which includes the towns of Marbella, Estepona and Benahavís and also, in real estate terms, the Marbella Golden Mile. Everything shines here.
Living here is only within the reach of a few. Yachts, cars and luxury shops open until midnight and multi-million euro buildings are the distinctive features of Puerto Banús, located 6 kilometers from Marbella and one of the most exclusive areas in Spain.
For many it is nothing more than an exhibition of abundance and ostentation, where snobbery makes its way between bottles of very expensive champagne, pleasure boats of tens of meters in length and lively night clubs.
But for us it is one of those places to see at least once in a lifetime. There must be a reason why more than four million people do it every year.
We recommend spending a day there, to visit one of the most privileged ports in the Mediterranean and the fifth most expensive in Europe, which has something of the small Andalusian white towns and much of a crowded place where nightlife, excesses and glamor mix in different ways .
Start the day with a hearty breakfast at the Rosas Café, which is recently the most photographed place in Puerto Banús (and perhaps in Marbella). Its instagramable murals of 35,000 roses, its pastel-colored decoration, its lush terrace and its photogenic dishes are the claim that this café where even your dog has his card has become, in a few months, a temple of pilgrimage of hundreds of influencers. But it’s not just a matter of aesthetics: their toast of artisan bread and organic coffee, for the more traditional or their activated carbon black waffles and their bowls with fruit, muesli and edible flowers for the most launched, are the reason so everyone returns. The best: you can “have breakfast” at any time of the day.
When it is time to remove the anchors, you are in Puerto Banús and the options are endless: you can rent a boat to be a fisherman for a day with Lovit Charter a Boat, a sailing boat to be pampered – with beauty treatments and massages on the high seas with Renova Thermal– or go on an excursion to see dolphins.
Puerto Banús is like traveling the world in gastronomic terms: making decisions is difficult. There are Lebanese restaurants – Baalbak or Marrush -, Italian like the crowded Picasso pizzeria or the always recommended La Pappardella, Belgians like Grill del Puerto, Mexican and Japanese fusion cuisine like Mesiko or Americans like Jacks Smokehouse. But we also find national proposals such as La Taberna del Pintxo or La Bocana, where you can hear again, with a fry from Malaga, that yes, you are in Andalusia.
And keep an eye out for Andalusian cuisine: Marbella, a stone’s throw away, is the home of Dani García (2 Michelin stars). But if we stick to Puerto Banús, we must talk about the DOM Restaurant: an extreme defense of the local raw material and the Designation of Origin Malaga.
