Many things have been written and said during the last years about the image of Marbella in international media. The town hall is addressing this problem in depth and we all hope this will inspire high spending tourists to return to the city.

There is also a concern that the town hall needs to look at which has not been identified yet. In recent years Puerto Banus has taken over the role as both shopping center and activity center of the whole community.  A few years ago people would ask for hotels or apartments in Marbella. Today they are only asking for Puerto Banus. All larger luxury brands have either moved from Marbella to Puerto Banus or opened in Puerto Banus directly.

This has left Marbella as a commercial ghost town. Every third shop is closed and the atmosphere of Marbella has disappeared. While shops in Puerto Banus are open all day until late, shops in Marbella close for the siesta and close already at 8 pm. As clients told me once, we went to Marbella one evening, but everything was closed.

The commercial battle between Marbella and Puerto Banus is already lost and there is nothing that can be done. Companies have invested millions of euros in Puerto Banus and it will remain the shopping center of the area for years to come.

So Marbella town, what now? The only option for Marbella is to go Spanish. With that I mean cultural Spanish. One has to establish an area in Marbella, i.e. the Old Town that is to be the center of this cultural happening. Shops and restaurants must agree on tourist friendly opening hours. Shops will have to focus on Spanish cultural goods.

One idea would be to have a flamenco show every evening on the Orange Square in July and August. This would attract hundreds of tourists benefiting restaurants and shops. Tour operators and guides what put this event on their program.

Around this event the horse carriages would flourish and one could even make parades with horses, bull fighters, tivoli etc.

Tourist events like these have to be coordinated between the Town Hall of Marbella and the local business community. I am sure that people would come from all over the coast to see events like these.