Benahavís: Guide

Benahavís is a small Andalucian pueblo situated just 10 minutes from the Coast behind San Pedro de Alcántara on the Costa del Sol, Southern Spain. There are two current ways to get there from Marbella, one is the best known route and the other is through the luxurious 5-star urbanization, Los Arqueros. Benahavís is an ancient white village set in the mountains of Andalucía, surrounded by breathtaking natural beauty, gorges, rivers, cliffs & outcrops home to large birds of prey. The name is derived from the Moors; Ben (meaning "son of") and Havis (who ruled over the region from Montemayor Castle).

A village of some several thousand inhabitants (fewer than 50% of the population are local Spaniards), the many restaurants have received much acclaim over the past decades and tourists flock of an evening to dine in the plaza or eateries dotted around the narrow mountain streets. Cuisine is primarily Andalucían in style.

The town itself is surrounded by natural parkland, and, as such, retains some of its secluded, cosy feel. La Zagaleta: a highly exclusive mansion club which contributes to Benahavis' status as the richest province per capita head in Andalucía, lies within the municipality, and overlooks the village.

Sadly, new developments are springing up rapidly within the Benahavís environs, with plans to build even more new homes, commercial premises & Golf Courses, all of which is destroying the tranquility of the area.

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from www.benahavis.net :
Benahavis, a mountain village 7km from the coast, is situated between Marbella, Estepona and Ronda. Reknowned for its restaurants - they call it the dining room of the Costa del Sol - it is above all a picturesque place, where one can find incredible mountain- and sea-views.
Boasting 9 of the Costa del Sol's 60 golfcourses, and that will go up to 15 in the next decade, it is also THE hotspot for golflovers.
Located on the Southern face of La Serrania de Ronda mountain range, Benahavis is the most mountainous village on the western Costa del Sol. Its terrain is traversed by the Rivers Guadalmina, Guadaiza and Guadalmanza. Regions of great natural and historic interest are to be found within its boundaries, such as El Cerro del Duque, Daidin and the Montemayor Castle.
On top of that, Benahavis is only a stonethrow away from the beaches of the Costa del Sol and the spectacular mountains of the Serrania de Ronda.

P:S: I did not want to delete the previous article but there are over 15.000 properties in Benahavis, so the 2500 inhabitants is a bit under the real number, although quite a lot of the (foreigner) population is not registered in the census.

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