Estepona Information

With a population of 37,000, Estepona bustles with life, especially in the atmospheric old town and centre. All the tourist facilities are here, including hotels, restaurants, leisure and cultural activities and shops.

The numerous street cafes and tapas bars serve traditional Spanish delicacies and the steep, cobbled, narrow streets seem more suited to horses than cars. You will find many unusual shops and bodegas in Estepona, in places where you would least expect them. They are very inviting, very friendly and reasonably priced.

The city has become a tourist centre owing to its magnificent beaches and the abundance of services and facilities for enjoying your holidays.

Estepona’s origin is attributed to the Phoenicians and its existence is confirmed in documents from Roman times. The Arab settlers gave the town the name of Estebbuna.

Estepona has a wonderful marina, Estepona Puerto Deportivo, with capacity for 900 boats. It is located near the town centre and as night falls it transforms into a crowded and enjoyable nightspot.

Estepona has several museums to visit including the Tool Museum, which houses all kinds of implements which were regularly used in fishing and agricultural works.

PLACES OF INTEREST

Clock Square
Flowers Square
Remedios Church , 18th century
Clock Tower XV century
Almenara Tower
The remains of the castle walls, SV century
The remains of the Nicio Castle
Bullring
Estepona Lighthouse 1861
The Marina
Marqués de Mondéjar Palace and de la Borrega House
The Tool Museum,
The Dolls Museum
Sea Museum

The surroundings of Estepona are propitious for the practice of adventure and mountain sports. In addition it has an Escuela de Arte Ecuestre founded in 1998 and located at 800 metres from the beach and not far from Sierra Bermeja. Selwo, Costa del Sol, is situated here which is a big nature park where everybody will discover a lot of animals from the five continents, living in semi-freedom.

FESTIVITIES

A good time to visit Estepona is during the Fiestas Mayores (3-10 July) when the summer fair is held. During the Virgen del Carmen religious celebration (16 July) the Virgin is taken out of the fisherman’s church to bless the sea.

The major feria is from 3rd –10th July.
16th July Virgen del Carmen.
23rd June San Juan Night on the beach with bonfires and fireworks.
15 May is the San Isidro fair. San Isidro el Labrador is the patron saint of Estepona.

TYPICAL DISHES

Estepona cuisine celebrates the two sides of Estepona - agriculture and the sea. There is the hearty country soup, chilled tomato and garlic soup known as gazpacho from the land and barbecued sardines from the sea, as well as the renowned Malaguenian fish fry-ups, or frituras, and fish baked in salt. Another typical sea dish is sardines baked in tiles, sardinas a la teja.