This project makes possible the creation of one of the best seafront promenades in the country, with a balcony over the Mediterranean that becomes a new tourist attraction, in line with the ‘Estepona, Garden of the Costa del Sol’ project.

This project comprises a public facility to house a large library, a music conservatoire, an auditorium for cultural events, a major exhibition hall that will open with pieces from the Carmen Thyssen collection and a viewing tower that will become a lookout offering panoramic views of the city and the Mediterranean.

The mayor stressed that it is the culmination of Estepona’s urban and tourist revitalisation, placing the town at the forefront of cities that commit to sustainability, quality of life and well-being for citizens.

The mayor of Estepona, José María García Urbano, and the president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, have opened the Mirador del Carmen cultural centre, an urban sustainability project that opens the city to the sea, creating one of the best seafront promenades on the Spanish coast, where an emblematic cultural, social and tourist space has been created. The urban development project for the creation of this latest public space bears the hallmark of the Málaga architect and urban planner Salvador Moreno Peralta, National Urban Planning Prize winner.

The mayor stressed that this project is the culmination of the urban revitalisation Estepona has experienced over the last 12 years and that it places the town at the forefront of cities that commit to quality of life, sustainability and the well-being of citizens. Thus, this new area is a place of transition between the beautified town centre, the so-called ‘Garden of the Costa del Sol’, and the Mediterranean coast, with a new revitalised space, open to pedestrians, full of nature, which is already one of the best seafront promenades in Spain and one of the favourite places to stroll and enjoy the city.

This public facility has been designed to house a large vertical library and study spaces, a music conservatoire, an auditorium for cultural events, a major exhibition hall, which opens on 5 April with pieces from the Carmen Thyssen collection, and a viewing tower that becomes a significant attraction for visitors, as it is a lookout from which to enjoy impressive views of the Mediterranean and the maritime essence of the city. This important cultural and social centre acquires a significance that goes beyond Estepona itself to become an important facility at provincial level.

The project is developed, basically, below the grade of avenida de España, taking advantage of the large drop down to the seafront promenade and the beach, locating the commercial and catering premises on this site. On the roof of the building, which is at avenue level, a large open pedestrian area of more than 15,000 square metres is created, with a viewing tower over the Mediterranean Sea as its landmark. The fact that this pedestrian area is raised gives it a special distinction, as it is one of the elements that determines the quality of the area where it is located, providing a promenade like a balcony over the sea.

In parallel, the Town Council has carried out the remodelling and pedestrianisation of avenida de España in two sections adjacent to this Mirador, creating a large landscaped boulevard over an area of intervention of more than a kilometre.

The president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, stated today that the opening of the Mirador del Carmen cultural centre in Estepona is a historic milestone and will show that culture is also an economic engine that generates jobs and wealth. An emblematic work that, as he said, will form part of the quality offer and the identity of this Málaga municipality.

He thus explained that this Mirador includes a library, a music conservatoire, an auditorium for cultural events, a viewing tower and an exhibition hall. “A real gift for the city, its residents and visitors, which will have another great premiere with the exhibition of almost 50 pieces from the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza collection”, he noted.

Moreno pointed out that Estepona is adding a very weighty argument to its appeal because 33% of the people who visit Andalucía say that culture is their first motivation, a percentage that rises to 85% if those who choose culture as their second motivation after sun and beach are added.

In this regard, he asserted that Estepona is in the best position in terms of tourist appeal of practically all of Andalucía and Spain. In this respect, he stressed that this Málaga municipality is one of the best tourist showcases of the Andalusian region and indicated that this great building completes the project ‘Estepona, Garden of the Costa del Sol, which is already the city’s brand’.

It is a project that over a decade has been transforming and beautifying almost 130 streets and which, following the declaration of Estepona as a Tourist Municipality of Andalucía in 2020, has been able to count on specific aid from the Junta to boost those works on streets and in parks.

 Quality tourist destination

The mayor explained that Estepona Town Council continues to commit to sustainable urban development and to promoting a quality tourist destination with a wide offer for visitors. This, he noted, contributes to the economic stimulation of the city around the activity linked to this tourism segment. Specifically, this new project complements the municipal initiative ‘Estepona, Garden of the Costa del Sol’, generating another powerful hub of tourist

attraction and extending the appeal of the renovated town centre towards the city’s port area.

It should be recalled that 12 years have passed since the ‘Estepona, Garden of the Costa del Sol’ project, a municipal project that has allowed the renewal of infrastructure and the beautification of the whole urban centre -a total of 130 streets-, which has had a significant economic and social impact on the city, completely improving the town’s aesthetics, creating a model of sustainable urban development and revitalising the economic and tourist activity of the municipality.

Thus, a true garden has been created over a large urban area of more than 20 kilometres of public roads, which has been complemented by other significant initiatives such as the unique Botanical-Orchid Park; an open-air museum with more than 60 works on building façades; or the open-air library created through the Poetry Route, which brings culture to the street.

Exhibition hall with works from the Thyssen collection

The exhibition space at the Mirador del Carmen will open its doors with a selection of fifty paintings from the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection. The exhibition ‘Vivir en la Pintura’ brings together fifty pieces spanning Spanish art from Romanticism to Pop Art.

The mayor stressed that housing this important collection of works represents for Estepona a valuable leap in quality in its cultural, artistic and tourist offer, as well as great exposure for the municipality. It is, therefore, another stimulating element, in line with the model of a friendly, sustainable city with quality of life, which makes Estepona a cultural benchmark.