Living in Estepona
This is a short introduction to Estepona and it's history and background.
No matter if you approach Estepona from the East or West you can not help but be impressed with the glistening white buildings and the outline of Gibraltar and the Coast of North Africa. Estepona boast an attractive promenade lined with palm trees, garden features and fountains. It was the famous Salduba, the Muslim Estebbuna who described the town as an ideal spot of abundant delights. You will find Estepona to be a well kept village of white washed walls, wrought iron and clay tiles, the town blossoms with plants trees and squares that are decorated with fountains and cobble stones.
Estepona2.jpgAlthough Estepona itself is a small village, the province spreads out over an area of 132 million square meters of coastland and mountains, with a beach area that covers 21.5 kilometres of coast. Estepona also has its own port where fresh fish are landed and auctioned daily. You can not help but fall in love with this picturesque village that’s has preserved its Andalusian style and character, many properties actually date back over 100 years and the streets are narrow and reveal a maze of unexpected squares and statues. San Francisco square which guards the entrance to the parish church is a reminder of the Franciscan Monastery that once occupied this attractive village.
The History of Estepona is somewhat clouded as the record books where lost during the Civil War, however Estepona probably laid its roots when the Phoenicians roamed the country. The Most ancient remains found in the area date back several thousand years into prehistory. Remains of Phoenician and Roman ruins have been discovered the most note worthy being an old town called Salduba which was on the Guadalmansa Estuary. Estebbuna the forerunner of Estepona was founded in the 10th Century by Arabs and the Muslim Estepona fell to King Henry the IV of Castille in or around 1460. Estepona4.jpgIt was at this point the castle of Estepona was put to ruin but it was ordered to be rebuilt by the King in defence of Moroccan Pirates. The ruins of the aforementioned castle can still be seen in Castillo Street which is close to the indoor fresh food market. Another relic of the same period and close to the to the castle ruin is a clock tower this tower used to form part of the church that was constructed during the late 15th century again by order of King Henry IV before that the tower formed part of the mosque that stood on the same sight. In 1559 the growing populace of Estepona was put under the jurisdiction of Marbella and remained so for over 100 years.
It was in 1729 that Estepona and its 600 or so inhabitants where given independence by King Phillip V in his Villasgo letter, this letter is held in the town hall to this day. There are many legends surrounding Estepona tales of a bride jumping to her death moments before her wedding make up just one of these particular legends. Estepona has also has its share of natural disasters a violent earth tremor in 1755 and a cyclone that reeked havoc in 1955 ripping up trees and flattening orchards.
Image4_1.jpgOther interesting points are the watchtowers distributed along the beaches of Estepona, in all you will encounter 7 of these towers that are either Castillian or Muslim in origin. These towers helped form the defence of the coast well into the 19th Century, and proved effective in holding off attacks from pirates that came from North Africa and Turkey.
Like the sport or not you can not help but be impressed with the Bullring of Estepona, this was opened in 1972 and was designed by the architect Juan Urbano. Being asymmetric in design makes this Bullring the only one of its kind in the World.
Estepona has always been an agricultural area with much of its wealth coming from either farming or fishing, although today tourism forms a big percentage of the income Estepona is still rich with agricultural land. This is when you feel like you are in the real Spain, it is not uncommon to see farmers arriving to the centre with a Donkey laden with fresh fruit and vegetables. It is not so many years ago when many of the village houses boasted a stable to the rear of the property and animals where lead through the house by way of straw mats laid down on the lounge floor to save damage to the tilling. Words can not really describe this beautiful area to its fullest it is place you need to visit, live in and enjoy.
