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Marbella’s new residents have a primary hub that isn’t a Michelin-starred beach club. The Pool, not the infinity-style pool but a huge glass and steel space for co-working on the Golden Mile. Christian Rasmusson, the co-founder of the Swedish company, says that its members are from over 30 countries.
Such a demographic is prominent in what Rasmusson calls “Marbella 2.0” — the Costa del Sol town’s transition from tourist resort and golf-centred retirement destination to a year-round home for young entrepreneurs and families. Many of them are digital nomads capitalising on a growing tech scene, a proliferation of homes in new branded developments, as well as excellent healthcare and international schools — including Swans and Svenska Skolan, the Swedish school, which recently upped its capacity by 50 per cent to 300.
British buyers in 2023 ranked as the biggest foreign segment (15 per cent) in the Málaga province — which includes Marbella — with Swedish in second place (8 per cent). When you walk around Marbella today, English is far less prominent than it used to be. There’s also uncertainty among British would-be buyers since Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s prime minister, proposed a 100 per cent tax — or even a ban — on non-resident, non-EU “speculators” to ease the country’s “housing emergency”. Andrew Humphreys (59), a chief finance officer from Staffordshire recently purchased a penthouse in Marbella, Spain, for his personal use. “Not primarily as an investor”, he said. “But we did have some hesitation that [Sánchez’s proposed change] Could lower future resale prices.”
Instead, Marbella 2.0 is leaning more towards a new phase for “Scandalucía”. Of the 320 companies in the Málaga region that have at least one Swedish owner, 200 are in Marbella. Many of them are in Nueva Andalucía — an affluent area nicknamed “Little Stockholm”, where high-end villas have sweeping views across “Golf Valley”. According to the property portal Idealista, Swedish buyers are spending more per square metre on Spanish homes than anyone else.
Max Burde, 50, the founder of a Swedish car company, recently bought a part-time home in La Quinta, a golf resort north-west of Nueva Andalucía where villas cost around €3.7mn to €14.5mn. He says that it is similar to Los Angeles with its mountains, weather, beach, and natural beauty. “I’m hoping to settle here permanently.”
Razor and Kari Suleman moved from Silicon Valley to The Pool three years ago. We knew that we would be staying in the villa for good after just four months. Suleman says, “We arrived just in time to raise a family here and discover the next great technology companies.
His beachfront neighbourhood off the Golden Mile — a stretch of coastline between Puerto Banús, about 6km to the west, and the edge of Marbella city — counts Novak Djokovic and Swedish Spotify founder Daniel Ek as residents. “When we moved to this community, only one other home in the 50-plus homes lived here all year round. He says that there are now more than 12 families in the community.
Marbella has more nationalities than any other Spanish cities, including Madrid and Barcelona. Nearly a third (or 170,000) of the city’s permanent residents come from abroad. Idealista reports that house prices rose by 12,9% between January 2025 and the end of 2018. Knight Frank predicts that prime prices will rise by 5% this year. This is the second highest projected growth rate in Europe, after Stockholm, and follows four years of growth ranging from 5% to 7.2% per annum.
Pia Arrieta is the managing partner of DM Properties in Marbella. She attributes a part of this growth “to much higher-quality refurbishment and new key-ready property”. Marbella has its first branded projects, like Epic Marbella which opened in 2024, in partnership with Fendi Casa. Erling Haaland, the Norwegian footballer, owns an apartment there. When prices at Epic doubled within two years of launch to €20,000 per sq m, they set a new record for Marbella. Now prices for some homes on the Golden Mile beachfront are reaching €30,000 per sq m, according to local agency Panorama Properties.
In neighbouring Design Hills, a Dolce & Gabbana-branded scheme due to complete in 2027, apartments start at €5.5mn and one of the penthouses sold last year for €20mn. Knight Frank reports that there are also a lot of Scandinavians and Dutch buyers, as well as buyers from Mexico and Poland. This is one of the most important emerging sources of demand in Marbella for new builds. UNO occupies one of the last plots on the Golden Mile and is due for completion in early 2026. Last year, there were 25 off-plan sales at an average price a shade under €7mn, according to the Norwegian agency, Solvilla.
Two branded projects in Marbella East — where sand dunes, dotted by the occasional beach bar or restaurant, provide a retreat from central Marbella — are expected to break ground this year too: The Four Seasons resort and another scheme, initially slated under the W hotel brand but still a work in progress, whose apartments and villas will overlook Real de Zaragoza beach.
There’s a lot to learn. Agents and others in the industry believe Sánchez’s proposed legislation against non-EU buyers is unlikely to pass through parliament. In Marbella however, some buyers have already started to back off. Salim Akhtar has lost three North American customers. “Most Spanish families I know with housing problems aren’t looking for €1mn penthouses on golf resorts,” he says. “But the diversion of this kind creates instability for the entire system.”
Percy Roland of Percy Roland Real Estate, Marbella says: “An Irish customer of mine who would not even be affected has decided to delay his purchase because he is afraid of the impact on property prices.”
Although the golden visa scheme in Spain is ending soon, buyers are still rushing to seal deals before the deadline of April. “Some are buying quickly at around the €500,000 threshold, just to get the visa, then they are going to take their time to find somewhere they want to live,” says Roland.
Marbella’s long-delayed new urban plan is also expected to be implemented within the next 2 years. But, for the time being, it still relies upon an outdated planning system that was drawn up in 1986. Subsequent blueprints were scrapped as they were linked to decades of corruption presided over by Jesús Gil, Marbella’s mayor in the 1990s. Gil — who, as a property developer early in his career, was handed a prison sentence after a building collapsed and killed 58 people — died in 2004 facing corruption charges. Many of Gil’s town hall colleagues ended up in prison as well. Gil’s building frenzy left 18,000 Marbella houses illegal and unsellable.
A new urban plan has been widely welcomed. Roland: “I will believe it after I see the plan, as it has to pass a lengthy legal process.” Reality TV shows have also contributed to the negative image of Marbella. Daniel Shamoon says that the British are mostly responsible for this bad reputation of “Marbs”. He is also co-owner at five-star hotel Puente Romano and Marbella Club. “Buyers in Europe don’t think the same.”
Shamoon says that he knows the importance of reputation. He acquired his hotels in 1993 “when Marbella was a shambles and its name had become a dirty term”. In the last four years the town has experienced a huge revival. It has a lot of competition as a tourist destination. As a place to call home, it is the best I’ve found in Europe. “It doesn’t offer the same tax advantages as Dubai or Miami. But you’re immersed in Andalusia’s wonderful cities, food, and climate.”
And for a new type of foreign buyer, there’s the lure of The Pool that isn’t for morning dips, but for networking with tech-minded nomads . . . The pool is a great place to meet up with other tech-minded nomads before heading out on the beach.
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