HISTORY AND LANDSCAPE
Most of the Estepona territory is dominated by the
mountainous landscape of the Sierra Bermeja and the foothills, which in the form of great
hills branch off towards the coast. The massif of Sierra Bermeja outstands for the reddish
colour of its rocks, which have been uncovered on most of the hillside because of the
frequent forest fires.
Near the summit, situtated on the Reales Peak (1.449 m.)
there is a refuge with facilities for picnics from which there are extraordinary views of
the coast un to the Rock of Gibraltar and on clear days one can perfectly see the Atlas
mountain range in Morocco. The scenic beauty of the sierra and the presence of a fir
forest on the highest part, have deserved the declaration of Natural Spot by the Junta de
Andalucia.
On the eastern half of the municipality there are a few small
rivers, which after leaving the torrentials of the Sierra, have formed valley bottoms in
which the richness of the earth and the abundance of water have allowed the maintainance
of orange, lemon and fruit trees offering corners of great singularity and beauty. This
especially occurs with the rivers of the Cala, Padrón, Castor and Velerín.
In the central and western area of the municipality, the
territory within the sierra and the sea is formed of smooth hills and undulating terrains
mainly covered in cereal crops, some fruit trees and areas of pastures mixed with
scrubland.
The stretch of coastal land has joined the dynamic sunny
coast and for some years, the scarce spaces which had not yet been urbanized have either
been built on or are waiting to be built on, although, as with Marbella, some of the
urbanizations close to the sea are disguised with gardens and tree-covered areas.
An outstanding element of the Estepona coast are the
lighthouses, although some of them, like the Salavieja (near the marina) is almost hidden
between buildings.
These lighthouses are the testimony of a history which could
have started with an Iberian fortified village, and which some historians have identified
with Salduba (which some place in the Marbella municipality). The ruins of this village
have been located in the Torreón hills, to the right margin of the Guadalmansa river,
some 300 metres from the river mouth and very close to the N-340 road. Near this site
there are also remains of an aqueduct.
It seems to be in the Arab era that the present town appears,
conquered in 1457 by Enrique IV de Castilla, who ordered the building of the castle of San
Luis, whose remains can be seen in the Castillo street. Later new watchtowers were erected
on the coast to defend the frequent attacks of the Berber pirates.
Estepona was made independent from Marbella’s
jurisdiction in 1729 due to the privilege granted by Felipe V.
Places to Visit
The most outstanding monument is the parish church of the
Virgin of the Remedies, from the 18th century and which belonged, until the sale of the
church lands in 1835, to the convent of the franciscan monks which no longer exists. It is
a temple with three vaulted naves and a dome over the transept, whereas the outside front,
built in stone and quite well conserved, follows the line of rococo architecture mixed
with another from Latin America.
The tower of this church outstands from any point of the
city, and is formed by four bodies, the last having an octagonal base and crowned by a
pointy capital with two-coloured ceramics.
Other outstanding monuments are the Torre del Reloj
(Clocktower), which belonged to an old parish built in the 15th century (1474). In the
19th century it was restored in a classicist style unexempt of baroque details; the ruins
of the 15th century castle walls, an old fort from the reconquest era; the ruins of the
Nicio Castle, situated in the high part of the El Padrón area; many houses or stately
palaces, such as the Mondejar Marqui, from the 18th century, and the Borrega House, from
the same century.
From former eras, there are the archaeological sites of the
municipality of Estepona, Las Torres (roman villa), and the Parque Antena (Roman
settlement).
Lastly, on the coastal front there is a complex of
watchtowers built between the end of the 15th century and the 16th. They are Arroyo
Vaquero, Baños (baths) so called for the Roman baths nearby; the Guadalmansa, of
quadrangular base and is related to a lighthouse in the Roman era; the Saladillo; the
Salavieja; the Padrón and the Velerín.
Shopping
In Estepona there are a good number of craftsmen who work
with pottery, comissioned wood work, marble sculpture, iron forging, metal furniture,
saddlery, footwear, tapestry, etc.
Gastronomy
As well as the hundreds of restaurants in Estepona where you
can eat the most traditional cooking and the most innovating and international cooking,
where there is no lack of chinese and italian restaurants, the local gastronomy is based
on dishes such as country soup, sardine kebabs, cold summer soups, fried fish, octopus,
fish baked in salt and a variety of pastrymaking such as wine rusks and sticky buns.
FESTIVITIES AND TRADITIONS
The major festivities are from the 3rd to the 10th of July.
On the 16th of July they celebrate the Virgen del Carmen with a showy maritime procession
in which all the fishing boats participate, all adorned and sounding their horns.
On the night of the 23rd of June they burn the
"juas" (manikins) for San Juan and on the 15th of May is the San Isidro fair.
| Additional
Information |
Telephone |
| Council |
952 80 11 00 |
| Taxi |
952 80 29 00 |
| Ambulatorio |
952 80 10 84 |
| Policia Local |
952 80 36 00 |
| Policia Nacional |
952 80 00 98 |
| Bomberos |
952 80 44 83 |
| Ambulancia |
952 79 36 06 |
| Autobuses |
952 80 02 49 |
| Guardia Civil |
952 80 10 87 |
