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Puerto Banús attracts up to five million visitors each year and simply oozes wealth and glamour. With 915 berths, the marina provides an address for some of the most elite boats, bars and boutiques on the whole of the southern Spanish Costa. However, Puerto Banús is set to face some serious competition from none-too-distant neighbour – Marbella.
Just 8km to the east, La Bajadilla marina has played a nondescript second fiddle to Puerto Banús attracting neither celebrities nor millionaires. Yet thanks to a consortium led by Qatari Sheikh Abdullah ben Nasser Al-Thani, current owner of Málaga Football Club, the fishing port has been rubber stamped for a 400 million euro makeover.
Plans for an additional 500 berths arranged on a spectacular circular pier, 200m quay for cruise liners, a waterfront five-star hotel as well as a raft of bars, restaurants and shops will catapult La Bajadilla into the spotlight. With the Marbella Town Hall holding a 3% stake in the project, the marina is obliged to be ‘emblematic’ in order to attract elite clientele and is being billed as the most important urban development in Marbella’s history. Puerto Banús has every reason to worry that one day it will be outshone by one of its own.
Hadleigh Bolt, Director of boltpropertygroup.com creating elite bespoke homes in La Zagaleta country estate just 20km from Marbella, comments, “I am a huge fan of Marbella and believe that it’s symbolic of this prestigious coastline. Marbella’s Golden Mile is where it all began back in the 1950s when the five-star Marbella Club Hotel first opened its doors and today the area needs to up the ante to once more compete with the best resorts on the Côte d’Azur and Amalfi coastline. This new marina is a great initiative and I believe it’s a correct decision to create a fresh new landmark for Marbella rather than to simply remodel near-neighbour Puerto Banús. With the old industrial estate set to be demolished and the AVE high speed rail link destined to stretch to Marbella in the not too distant future – Port Al Thani will undoubtedly change the face of Marbella.”
