Marbella East
Ten km of beaches, golf and urbanisations from Río Real to the Artola dunes
Marbella East is the stretch of the municipality from the Río Real to the Mijas border at Cabopino. It roughly matches the Las Chapas district, which Spanish Wikipedia describes as a string of urbanisations along the A-7. It was built from the 1960s onwards. Banker Ignacio Coca started Los Monteros and its hotel in 1962. The Marbella Hilton, today the Don Carlos, went up in 1963, as did the Ciudad Residencial Tiempo Libre, one of the district's first estates. La Câbane has served the beach at Los Monteros since 1965, and Río Real golf club dates from the same year.
Life is organised around the A-7 and its numbered exits. Each urbanisation has its own beach access, and Elviria is the nearest thing to a village centre. It has the Pinares de Elviria shops, a Friday market and a twice-monthly organic market. Hospital Universitario Costa del Sol, the public hospital for the whole western coast, is at km 187. From Elviria, Marbella's old town is about 14 minutes by car, Fuengirola's train station 23 minutes and Málaga airport around 50. Urban bus line L6 runs Cabopino–Las Chapas–Marbella centre, with a night service (L9).
Las Chapas district had 12,517 registered residents in the 2009 municipal register, the latest district figure Wikipedia gives. Families come for two international schools: the English International College in Ricmar and the German School (Deutsche Schule Málaga) on the hill above Elviria. Golfers come for five courses within a few kilometres: Río Real, Santa Clara, Higuerón Marbella (the former Marbella Golf & Country Club), Santa María and Cabopino. The Hospital Costa del Sol, with 408 beds, also makes the area practical for older residents.
Summer is beach-club season. Nikki Beach has run in the Don Carlos grounds since 2003, and Dune Beach opens in March. Astoria's season ran into early November in 2026, and La Plage Casanis still had DJ events that month. Out of season the beaches are long and quiet, but some places keep going: Trocadero Arena, for example, says it opens 365 days a year. The Artola dunes at Cabopino, a protected natural monument since 2001, are worth a winter walk.
The downsides: almost everything depends on the A-7, so you drive for most errands, and homes next to the motorway hear it. There are few pavements between urbanisations and little nightlife beyond beach-club afternoons and a handful of bars. Marbella town is 10–20 minutes away. Prices are moving fast at the cheaper end: The portals recorded +13.7% a year in Las Chapas–El Rosario and +9.3% in Elviria–Cabopino in October 2026. The cheapest way in is still a studio in El Rosario–Ricmar or Marbesa from about €150,000, or a flat in Reserva de Marbella, the lowest-priced barrio in the portals' Marbella index at €3,250/m².
Ten km of beaches, golf and urbanisations from Río Real to the Artola dunes
The look of Marbella East.
Live in Marbella East, today.
The most valuable Marbella East addresses are often shared privately first. Call the desk for the full active book.
Photographed inside Marbella East.
Every frame below is a real Marbella East property currently on the desk — interiors, terraces, pools, gardens. Click to see the full listing.
Inside the radius.
The neighbourhoods, restaurants, bars, beaches, clubs, schools and places that make Marbella East's daily rhythm — real names, every one checked as open in November 2026.
Neighbourhoods
Río Real & Santa Clara
Villas and low-rise apartment complexes around two golf courses, just east of the Río Real and closest to Marbella town (about 5 minutes). The portals' 'Río Real' barrio averaged €5,063/m² in October 2026, up 16% in a year. Its cheapest flats were listed from about €280,000–375,000.
Los Monteros & Alto de los Monteros
The original 1960s luxury estate around the Kimpton Los Monteros hotel and La Câbane on the beach, with large villas below the A-7 and apartment complexes above it. portal averaged Los Monteros at €5,891/m² and Alto de los Monteros at €5,038/m² in October 2026.
Bahía de Marbella & El Realejo
Beachside apartment complexes and villas between Los Monteros beach and the hospital, with the Blue Flag Las Adelfas beach in front. It is one of the dearest barrios on this side: portal averaged €6,535/m² in October 2026.
El Rosario & Ricmar
Mostly inland of the A-7: older villas on big plots, newer gated homes, and the English International College. It is also where the area's cheapest small flats are: The portals listed 31–48 m² studios from €150,000–170,000 in autumn 2026, and the barrio averaged €4,634/m².
Las Chapas, Costabella & El Alicate
Beachside urbanisations along El Alicate and Costabella beaches, with chiringuitos such as Los Sardinales. Prices are climbing fast: The portals' 'Las Chapas–Alicate Playa' averaged €5,862/m² (+30% in a year), while Costabella averaged €4,783/m².
Elviria (with Santa María and Romana Playa)
The area's centre for daily life: the Pinares de Elviria shops, the Friday market, clinics and cafés, with Santa María golf and the hills above, and the German School at the top of the hill. portal averaged Elviria at €4,864/m² and Santa María at €4,344/m² in October 2026.
Marbesa, Hacienda Las Chapas & Reserva de Marbella
Beach-side Marbesa (old villas and small apartment blocks, €5,237/m²) sits next to Hacienda Las Chapas (€3,850/m²) and, above the A-7, Reserva de Marbella. At €3,250/m² in October 2026, Reserva de Marbella was the lowest-priced barrio in the portals' Marbella index; two-bed flats there were listed from about €231,000.
Cabopino & Artola
The far eastern end around Cabopino marina, the Artola dunes and Cabopino golf. Homes are apartment complexes around the port and villas at Artola Alta. portal averaged €4,690/m² (+11% in a year), and two-bed flats were listed from about €380,000.
Restaurants
El Lago
A fine-dining restaurant since 2000, in the Greenlife Golf clubhouse beside a private lake in the Elviria hills. The cooking is regional, built on local produce, with a vegetarian tasting menu and a long list of Andalusian wines. Macarfi puts the average bill at about €100 a head without drinks.
Tony's Beach (Tonys)
A historic chiringuito on La Víbora beach, newly listed by Michelin for traditional seafood cooking with modern touches. Under chef Ivo Wakar it does fish, shellfish, rice dishes and grills, with sunbeds, a cocktail bar and live music. Macarfi puts the average bill at about €60.
Manero (Hotel Don Carlos)
Manero comes from Alicante and Madrid, and here it sits in the Don Carlos, the former Marbella Hilton built in 1963. Lázaro Rosa-Violán's interiors split it into a sea-view bistro, a tapas bar and a terrace for Alicante-style rice dishes, plus a signature cocktail bar. Macarfi puts the average bill at about €75.
Jara (Kimpton Los Monteros)
The Mediterranean restaurant of the Kimpton Los Monteros, a 60-room five-star hotel that pays tribute to Marbella's 1970s heyday. It is a polished dinner close to Río Real and the hospital.
Da Bruno a Cabopino
A large Italian restaurant by the A-7 at Cabopino with a terrace and easy parking. It has group menus and live music on Friday and Saturday evenings from 20:30 (a sax player or an international duo, for example), so it suits family celebrations.
Restaurante 200 (Club 200)
A seafront fish restaurant in Marbesa with a tapas bar and a big terrace beside the sea, serving fresh fish and shellfish.
Merendero Cristina
A beach restaurant on the sand at Las Chapas (Rancho Park, A-7 km 192.5), cooking fish and meat dishes for long lunches with your feet nearly in the sea.
Perla Blanca
A chiringuito on La Víbora beach in Elviria since 1975, serving southern Spanish seafood from noon to midnight.
Bars
Sylt
A no-frills beach bar for breakfast (toast with tomato €5, served 11:00–12:00), lunch from 13:00 and a €12 mojito at sunset.
Siroko Beach
A cocktail bar with tropical, fruit-based drinks and a kitchen doing rice, fish and grilled meat. It is good for a sunset drink on La Víbora.
H Beach Marbella (Hipopótamos)
A beach bar on the Plaza de los Tamarindos, open 10:00–22:00 and until 02:00 in July and August. It is one of the few late spots on this side.
Andy's Beach Club & Cocktail Bar
A beach bar and cocktail bar at Cabopino port, where the marina meets Artola beach. It is the obvious drink after a walk through the dunes.
Nightlife
Nikki Beach Marbella
The Nikki Beach brand's Marbella club, in the Don Carlos hotel grounds since 2003, with a restaurant, daybeds and themed day parties. The 23rd-anniversary 'Disco del Sol' party ran from 12:00 to 19:00 on 14 August.
La Plage Casanis
A beach club on Real de Zaragoza beach that runs Sunday Sunset Ritual sessions and a weekly 'I Love Wed' party. Its events continued into November in 2026.
Beach clubs
La Câbane
A beach club at Los Monteros since 1965, which celebrated 60 years in 2025. It says it has hosted Michael Jackson, Julio Iglesias, Elton John, Sean Connery and Lola Flores.
Trocadero Arena
Grupo Trocadero's Río Real beach restaurant, decorated by Lorenzo Queipo de Llano as an African hunting lodge. It has a sushi bar, ceviche and fried fish, DJ sessions and sunbeds, and says it opens 365 days a year.
Nosso Summer Club
A beach restaurant, bar and sunbed club with a bohemian, organic design on El Alicate. It opens 11:00–23:00 (to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays), with the kitchen running to about 21:00.
Dune Beach
A beach club and restaurant at Costa Bella that opens its season in March. Book by phone for summer weekends.
Astoria Beach Club
A seasonal beach club (its 2026 season ran into early November) serving open-fire grilled fish and meat, crudo and comfort food. DJs play until sunset, and both tables and sunbeds can be booked.
Oyana Beach
A restaurant, bar and sunbed beach on the Las Chapas shore, serving Mediterranean-inspired dishes, with sunset views along the coast.
Beaches
Playa de Río Real / El Realejo (Bahía de Marbella)
A long sandy beach east of the Río Real mouth, in front of Bahía de Marbella. It is backed by a promenade with palms and has Trocadero Arena on the sand.
Playa de Las Adelfas (Los Monteros)
The beach in front of Los Monteros, between Bahía de Marbella and La Câbane. It joined the Blue Flag list in 2025 and kept the flag in 2026.
Playa del Alicate
Wide golden sand with low dunes and beach-grass at the back, lined with beach restaurants: Los Sardinales, Nosso, Dune Beach and Oyana are all on this stretch.
Playa de Real de Zaragoza
A residential beach below the Real de Zaragoza and Coto Chico urbanisations, home to La Plage Casanis.
Playa de La Víbora
Elviria's beach, with long-running chiringuitos such as Perla Blanca and Tony's Beach and the Nikki Beach and Astoria clubs at its eastern end.
Playa de Las Chapas
A long, open beach in front of the Las Chapas and Marbesa urbanisations, with fewer buildings on the sand. It is good for long walks.
Playa de Las Cañas
A small beach at the mouth of the Arroyo de las Cañas, guarded by the 18th-century horseshoe-shaped Torre Lance de las Cañas.
Playa de Cabopino (Artola)
About 1,200 m of golden sand, around 30 m wide, beside Cabopino port, backed by the protected Artola dunes. Part of it is a nudist beach.
Clubs & sport
Los Monteros Racquet Club
A padel and tennis club in Urbanización Los Monteros that sells court passes ('bonos de pista') as well as memberships.
Rafa Nadal Tennis Center (Don Carlos)
The Rafa Nadal-branded tennis centre in the grounds of the Don Carlos resort, next to the beach in Elviria.
Hacienda MonteMarina
A riding centre in the hills above Los Monteros. It teaches from beginner to competition level and runs trail rides with sea views, a pony club and livery stables, and has a restaurant.
Golf courses
Río Real Golf
Golf club and boutique hotel since 1965, with the El Club restaurant; the closest course to Marbella town on this side. Hole count not stated on the pages opened.
Santa Clara Golf Marbella
Open since 2000; the club gives 30 min from Málaga airport and 7 min from Marbella centre. Hole count not stated on the pages opened.
Higuerón Marbella Golf Resort (former Marbella Golf & Country Club)
A Robert Trent Jones Sr. course from the late 1980s, renamed in November 2025; 9-hole rates and seasonal vouchers are available.
Santa María Golf & Country Club
Open to members and visitors; the restaurant is open 8:30–21:00.
Cabopino Golf Marbella
A hilly course with sea views and an academy; 2026 green-fee packs of 3 rounds cost €174–264 depending on season.
Schools
English International College (EIC)
A British school in Ricmar teaching from Early Years and Primary (3–11) through Senior School GCSEs (11–16) to International A Levels in the Sixth Form (16–18).
Deutsche Schule Málaga (Colegio Alemán, formerly 'Juan Hoffmann')
A German school officially recognised by Germany's education ministers' conference (KMK). It sits on a wooded hill about 420 m up above Elviria, roughly 5 km from the A-7, and was named after its 1967 re-founder Juan Hoffmann until 2018. Teaching is in German and Spanish from kindergarten, with English from year 5.
IES Las Dunas
The state secondary school for Las Chapas, near the EIC in Ricmar.
Places to see
Dunas de Artola (Monumento Natural)
A rare surviving piece of the dune coast that once ran along this shore: 192,715 m² of fossil and moving dunes, declared a natural monument in 2001. Sea holly, sea daffodils and juniper grow there, and a wooden boardwalk crosses it. It is next to Cabopino port and beach.
Torre Ladrones
A square watchtower more than 14 m tall inside the Artola dunes, attributed to the Muslim period. It is named after its 'ladroneras' (machicolations) and protected as a Bien de Interés Cultural.
Torre del Río Real
A round watchtower 10.85 m tall, built in 1575 beside today's A-7 near the Río Real. It was used until the early 19th century and is protected as a Bien de Interés Cultural.
Torre Lance de las Cañas
An 11 m horseshoe-shaped tower of rubble and brick on Las Cañas beach, built in the reign of Carlos III (second half of the 18th century).
Puerto de Cabopino
A small marina run under the Junta de Andalucía's ports agency, with moorings for 6–15 m boats. It is ringed by white apartment blocks and terraces, and paths lead into the dunes.
Ciudad Residencial Tiempo Libre
A 1963 residential estate, one of the first developments in Las Chapas, with distinctive white modernist buildings. Spanish Wikipedia singles it out among the district's urbanisations.
Things to do
Mercadillo de Las Chapas
The weekly street market in the Pinar de Elviria on Calle Pinsapo, with fruit and vegetables, clothes and household goods.
Eco Mercado (organic market)
The travelling certified-organic market of the Guadalhorce Ecológico association, held under the Pinares de Elviria pines with local seasonal produce, food stalls and easy parking.
Aventura Amazonia Marbella
Andalucía's largest tree-top adventure park, 500 m from the beach: 6 circuits, 103 games, 24 zip lines and a 240 m zip line between the trees.
Bobby Jump Marbella
More than 5,000 m² of trampolines and soft play, with a café-restaurant. It runs children's birthday packages.
Biblioteca J. M. Caballero Bonald
The municipal library in the Las Chapas town-hall annex on Calle Pinsapo, a quiet, free place to work or study near Elviria.
Shopping
Los Pinares de Elviria
Elviria's main cluster of shops, supermarkets, cafés and services by the A-7 (km 192).
Centro Comercial Nuevo Rosario
A local shopping centre on Calle Rosemary in El Rosario, serving the inland urbanisations.
Centro Comercial Doña Pepa
The shopping centre for Reserva de Marbella and the Cabopino end, on Avenida la Reserva de Marbella.
Hospitals
Hospital Universitario Costa del Sol
The public general hospital for the western Costa del Sol (Benahavís to Mijas), opened in 1993, with 408 beds and university status since 2023. New facilities opened in 2026. The A&E entrance is on Calle Bogey.
Consultorio Las Chapas
The local public health clinic (consultorio) for Las Chapas and Elviria, on Calle Pinsapo next to the market.
Marbella East, on one map.
Every neighbourhood and place in this guide. Switch a category on or off, or press “On the map” on any card above.
Marbella East on the page.
What homes cost here, from public price statistics with their source and date. Asking prices are labelled as such; every street differs.
Who lives in Marbella East.
Beach · 5/5
About 10 km of natural beaches and dunes; Los Monteros and Cabopino hold 2026 Blue Flags
Golf · 5/5
Five courses on this side (Río Real, Santa Clara, Higuerón Marbella, Santa María, Cabopino)
Families · 4/5
Two international schools, an adventure park, a trampoline park and the public hospital nearby
Peace and quiet · 4/5
Low-rise urbanisations and pinewoods; noise only near the A-7 and the summer beach clubs
International · 4/5
German and British international schools and a mixed foreign population
Three areas closest to Marbella East.
Places next door to each other can differ by a third in price. Here are the neighbouring guides, with their average price per m² alongside this one's.
Photo credits and sources
Researched in November 2026; every place was checked as open. Photographs from Wikimedia Commons, used under the licences shown.
- Sun setting over the sea at Playa de Las Chapas, with the mountains to the west — Michael Vadon · CC BY 2.0
- Waves running onto the sand at Las Chapas under a streaked sky — Michael Vadon · CC BY 2.0
- Rows of straw umbrellas and sunbeds on Las Chapas beach out of season — Michael Vadon · CC BY 2.0
- Río Real beach and its palm-lined promenade looking towards Marbella — Vanbasten 23 · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Low dunes with beach-grass behind the sand at El Alicate — Tyk · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Dune vegetation sloping down to Cabopino beach and the port breakwater — Olaf Tausch · CC BY 3.0
- The square Torre Ladrones watchtower and the dune boardwalk under a blue sky — Olaf Tausch · CC BY 3.0
- Motor yachts moored in Cabopino marina with white apartment blocks behind — Olaf Tausch · CC BY 3.0
- The round 1575 watchtower of Río Real among pines — MarcasDeCoches · CC BY-SA 4.0
- The horseshoe-shaped Lance de las Cañas tower beside the sea — MarcasDeCoches · CC BY-SA 4.0
- The 1963 Don Carlos hotel tower (former Marbella Hilton), home of Manero and Nikki Beach — Tyk · CC BY-SA 3.0
- The new building of the Hospital Universitario Costa del Sol, opened in 2026 — Senormunoz · CC BY-SA 4.0
- The white modernist buildings of the 1963 Ciudad Residencial Tiempo Libre — Tyk · CC BY-SA 3.0
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- aventura-amazonia.com
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- dabruno.com
- higueronmarbellagolfresort.com
- kimptonlosmonterosmarbella.com
- lossardinales.com
- openstreetmap.org
- restauranteellago.com
We'll book a half-day on the ground in Marbella East.
Three to five carefully chosen properties, plus the streets and addresses you wouldn't think to walk down on your own. Lunch at one of the spots above. No obligation, no pressure.