Marbella’s motto is “A Way of Life” and, certainly, this luxurious resort town seems to have it all and is, once again, rising to the fore as a favourite location with the rich and famous, as well as more ordinary folk who are willing to pay just a little bit extra for southern Spain’s answer to St Tropez.

Manilva is at the western end of the Costa del Sol, just on the border of Cádiz province and within easy reach of Sotogrande and Gibraltar. The town dates back to Roman times and the Manilva area encompasses not just the traditional whitewashed Manilva village which is just slightly inland, but also the small fishing village of El Castillo, the port of Duquesa, which is close to El Castillo and the town of Sabanillas, the area’s main commercial centre with a wide variety of facilities.

Málaga centre is not only the perfect place to explore the many historical monuments, atmospheric little streets and squares with delightful a café culture, but it is also a wonderful shopping centre. The main street to head for runs perpendicular to the stunning tree lined avenue, the Alameda, and starts at the Plaza Marina, near the port. Calle Marqués de Larios (often simply referred to as “Larios”) was pedestrianised in 2002 as part of the overall improvements being made to Málaga centre.

La Cala de Mijas is the central point of Mijas Costa and, although it has grown and been built up especially over the last decade or so, it still maintains something of its atmosphere of an Andalucian village. From originally being a tiny fishing village, its population has increased to 10,000 – many of whom are British. There are schools, a health centre, public library, post office, shops and cultural centre as well as many excellent bars and restaurants.

The territory of Istan is framed by the Sierra de las Nieves range and part of it is even included in the area that has been designated a biosphere reserve. Little more need be said to describe the ecological value of this area that is, moreover, overlooked by the Sierra Real range (1,331 metres) in the north, whose scenery competes with that of the La Zarina (1,141 metres) and Lastonar (1,260 metres) hills very near the coast.