Marbella: a ‘gay friendly’ city you can travel to with pride

10Marbella, along with Torremolinos, has headed the list of gay friendly cities, establishing itself as one of the most welcoming destinations for gay tourists. The gay friendly rating for Marbella has meant that the capital of the Costa del Sol does not allow prejudice into the city, so there is more and more infrastructure, such as gay friendly hotels and specialist venues. As a gay destination, Marbella also welcomes some of the most vibrant and extravagant festivals and clubs on the Costa del Sol.

Here is a selection of the best gay and gay friendly venues that make gay tourism possible in Marbella.

 

 

Marbella, destination for gay weddings

 

 

Marbella has a privileged location and beautiful weather, wet, mild winters and warm, dry summers, so it provides an excellent setting for weddings or honeymoons for the LGTBI community. Considered the jewel of Costa del Sol, Marbella has an old town with cobbled streets and romantic squares, which becomes the perfect setting for magical wedding photographs.

Marbella is not just sun and beaches, it also offers a variety of options for both certified or symbolic weddings, as well as for honeymoons. There are some agencies which focus on gay weddings, as it is the case with enterprise Gay Wedding Destination, which exclusively deals with these type of ceremonies and events. This company deals with the preparation of the ceremonies exclusively and privately, including the coordination and selection of event services for gay & lgbti weddings, full of glamour and exclusivity.

 

 

PRIDE MARBELLA: AN EVENT TO SHOW DIVERSITY

 

International LGBT Pride Day, also known as Pride, is a succession of events held publically each year by the gay community to promote equality and tolerance. This festival is usually held on 28th June, though there are other cities that change the date to increase attendance.

This year in Marbella, events were held that included the reading of a manifesto by the Equality and Diversity Delegate Isabel Cintado Melgar, the viewing of the short film The World Backwards: Heterophobia and an activity called “Bench for Diversity,” where girls and boys from the Association of Minority Families Chrisallys have painted a bench at Marbella Marina Sailing Club with the colours of the transsexual pride flag.

 

 

Gay Friendly Restaurants in Marbella

 

 

Black & White

Black & White is located in Benabolá port, it is much more than a simple gastrobar, since trying its food can be a wonderful experience. The menu of Black & White restaurant is designed to appeal to all tastes, because you can find from burgers to twelve different types of homemade pasta, to the best meats and fish. And speaking of desserts, we can only thing of the word delicious.

Muelle Benabola, Primera Línea Puerto Banús, Marbella
Web: www.blackandwhitemarbella.com/
Tel: +34 952 81 56 07
Google Maps

 

La Sala by The Sea

Located in Puerto Banús, at La Sala by the Sea, here you can enjoy a small swimming pool surrounded by a hammock zone. It is a spectacular beach club that very often holds parties and different events, so whenever you go, you’ll definitely have a great time.

Its cuisine offers very exotic dishes and its bar makes the best cocktails, which you can enjoy while watching an amazing sunset. It has to be said that you can’t get to this beach club by car, so you’ll need to leave it at the Nueva Andalucía or Puerto Banús car park.

Urbanización Villa Marina Marbella, Málaga
Web: www.lasalabythesea.com
Tel: +34 952 813 882
Google Maps

 

Sequoia Restaurante & Bar

Sequoia Restaurante & Bar is located in Nueva Andalucía and offers a gastronomic variety based on local products cooked cook with the newest and most innovative culinary techniques. It is Sequoia’s policy to preserve quality; therefore, the menu offers a diversity of diet dishes, always supervised by the medical staff of its Thermal Spa.

Calle Las Violetas Local, Nueva Andalucia, 7, 29660 Marbella
Web: www.facebook.com/sequoiarestaurante/
Tel: +34 951 31 91 16
Google Maps

 

Bounty Beach Marbella

Bounty Beach is located in Playa del Cable in Marbella. Bounty Beach is frequented mostly by young people; it is a place to enjoy and relax. It features a creative and innovative cuisine as well as a nice environment; we can assure you are going to have a fun time because of its friendly staff.

Playa del Cable s/n, 29603 Marbella, Málaga
Tel: +34 952 11 35 99
Google Maps

 

 

Amàre Beach Club

Amàre is the perfect place for relaxing and switching off from everything while you enjoy a fantastic massage or a glass of champagne, one of its refreshing cocktails, a natural fruit juice or smoothie, or one of the several beers from its international menu. Let the waiters serve you one of the delicious dishes from its Mediterranean menu with international touches while you lie on one of its Balinese beds. A real delight.

Paseo Alfonso Cañas Nogueras, 29603 Marbella, Málaga
Tel: +34 951 56 82 02
Google Maps

 

Breathe Marbella – Restaurant, Gastrobar & Garden

Breathe is the trendy place in the capital of the Costa del Sol. It is a true paradise of peace in the middle of this busy city. Here you can enjoy three very different spaces. The first is Ground, where you can have a healthy breakfast, lunch or snack, and which has a gourmet zone with a takeaway service. Then you can find Breathe, a fantastic gastro bar where you can delight in the amazing cuisine of Simone d’Elia. Finally, a sky bar with a fabulous panoramic view of Puerto Banús, where we recommend you enjoy one of mixologist Fran Manrique’s cocktails.

Nueva Andalucia, Calle los Lirios, 29660 Marbella, Málaga
Tel: +34 952 03 64 94
Google Maps

 

 

 

Where to go

 

 

The “coolest” places in Marbella are South Kiss and Mikonos, although you can always find many gay friendly bars and discos within Marbella Gay Life.

 

Gay bar Marbella Fenix

Fenix is an LGTBI meeting place. Located in the heart of Marbella, it is the only gay cocktail bar where different live shows are held. Here you can enjoy a fun and lively ambience with a wide range of cocktails, where the party lasts until the early hours.

Calle el Fuerte (in front of Hotel Fuerte Marbella), 29602 Marbella
Web: https://www.facebook.com/gaybarmarbellafenix/
Tel: +34 627 07 76 74
Google Maps

 

Olivia Valere

Olivia Valere is the most luxurious venue in Marbella and frequented by very cool people, with a client list including Bruce Willis, Enrique Iglesias, Joaquín Cortés and Dolph Lundgren, among others. Here you can also enjoy both Babilonia, an exquisite and exclusive restaurant, and some spectacular outdoor zones decorated with Arab arches which will transport you to another era. Olivia Valere is an amazing experience that you can only enjoy if you visit Marbella.

Carretera de Istán, Km 0.8, 29600 Marbella, Málaga
Tel: +34 952 82 88 61
Google Maps

 

Kube Puerto Banus

Kube is located at the seaport, behind the Louis Vuitton store. In this club, nights are especially amazing and not easily forgotten. Here, you could enjoy a reserved VIP lounge and spend the evening drinking cocktails, one after another, while dancing or lounging in your private couch.

Avenida Julio Iglesias (Behind Louis Vuitton) Puerto Banus, 29660 Marbella
Web: www.kubemarbella.com
Tel: +34 699 009 808
Google Maps

 

 

As we said at the beginning, along with Marbella, Torremolinos is another locality that is known for gay nightlife and tourism on the Costa del Sol, so we will tell you about two of its most important gay friendly venues.

 

Edén Beach Club – Torremolinos

Edén opened in 2012 and it is a magnificent beach club, where you could spend the entire day. It has a beach area, full of Bali beds and long beach chairs. In this establishment, there are plenty of young people from a wide range of nationalities. In addition, if after a good and fun time at the beach and drinking cocktails, you want to continue the party, you could go to Edén Copas, in downtown La Nogalera, an ideal place to party in the evening.
Paseo Marítimo, 1K, 29620 Torremolinos, Málaga
Web: www.http://edentorremolinos.com/
Tel: +34 952 38 46 88
Google Maps

 

El Gato Lounge – Torremolinos

Peter and Jeff opened El Gato Lounge in 2006. This is a lovely beach club where you can spend an entire day given that it offers an area full of comfortable Bali beds and long beach chairs by the sea.
It is a gay bar with a great atmosphere and a wide range of cocktails. This establishment is located in the main square of Torremolinos, just a few steps away from the train station.
Paseo Marítimo, 1, 29620 Torremolinos, Málaga
Web: www.facebook.com/elgatolounge/
Tel: +34 951 25 15 09
Google Maps

 

Biznaga Lounge Café – Torremolinos

Biznaga is a gay bar with a very cool “vibe,” where you could enjoy of a wide variety of select cocktails. It is located in Plaza de la Nogalera, just a few steps away from the train station.

Biznaga is famous for its very well thought interior decor, its high-quality baked goods and its gourmet coffees. Its outdoor terrace is the gay friendly meeting area at any point of the day and a starting point for the evening.

Calle de la Nogalera, 29620 Torremolinos, Málaga
Web: www.facebook.com/La-Biznaga-lounge-cafe-bar-361721487212391/
Tel: +34 691 81 79 92
Google Maps

 

 

Gay beach life

 

 

One of the most popular beaches for the LGTBI community in Marbella is Cabopino. This beach is labelled as gay friendly, although it is located in the farthest point from the marina of Cabopino, known as Artola beach.

This beach is nestled in a protected natural area known as Las Dunas de Artola, declared a natural monument and whose value lies in the dune cord that delimits it. It is characterized by the presence of Thieves Tower, a monument marking an imaginary separation between the Cabopino beach, much appreciated by families, and Artola Beach, which is nudist and gay friendly.

 

 

Shopping in Marbella

 

 

If we talk about shopping in Marbella, the main reference is the La Cañada shopping centre, where you can find any product look but from major brands.

If you are the type of person who enjoys wondering around smaller shops, then the old town of Marbella is perfect, with lots of complements and souvenirs, which is also the perfect excuse to walk along the beautiful streets of Marbella.

But surely the first choice of every visitor is Puerto Banus. There you will find the largest

El Corte Inglés of the area, together with Marina Banús shopping mall. Also, if you enjoy “whims”, do not forget to visit the luxury shops of the marina, like Armani or Versace

 

 

Body worship

 

 

If you are looking for body treatments, Marbella is where you will find what you want and where you can enjoy gay friendly spas, gyms and aesthetic clinics to always look good, in shape and trendy.

 

Spa by Germaine de Capuccini at Amare Marbella

The Spa by Germaine de Capuccini is located a few feet from the Mediterranean and also has an exclusive solarium right on the beach, enabling you to enjoy a relaxing massage on the shore. This spa also caters for those who want beauty treatments and offers customers a hair and beauty salon so that you can enjoy the best cosmetic products and have a full pampering session.

Calle Francisco Pedrazuela, 29603 Marbella, Málaga
Tel: +34 952 76 84 10
Google Maps

 

Health & Spa Center at Healthouse

At the Health & Spa Center at Healthouse, you can enjoy the latest in diet treatments designed exclusively to improve your wellbeing. This spa is the main Naturhouse dietetics and physical wellbeing centre in the area and all its professionals will focus their efforts on you looking and feeling happier, since all their therapies focus on the idea that physical health and mental wellbeing are closely linked.

Autovía del Mediterráneo, 29689 Estepona, Málaga
Tel: +34 951 08 20 90
Google Maps

 

Vincci Estrella at the Mar Spa

Vincci Estrella del Mar is a comprehensive personal wellbeing centre that make a significant impression on whoever visits it. This centre has some of the most modern and innovative spa facilities. Small wonder that it is rated as one of the best in Spain, so relax and start enjoying …

Urbanización Estrella del Mar Carretera A7, km 190,5, 29604 Marbella, Málaga
Tel: +34 951 05 39 70
Google Maps

 

 

In summary, if you want to visit a city with true gay style, Marbella has all you need. Make the most of it!

 

 

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