Why we chose the Costa del Sol

We first came here with our family in 2015, just to have a look around. We stood in Estepona on the very spot where we live today, and we fell head over heels in love with it. In front of us lay the sea and behind us the mountains, with the Sierra Bermeja range towering over Estepona. And then the sunshine, the warmth and the blue sky, even in November. There is something special in the air here that is hard to put into words. You feel it all at once, and above all a wonderful sense of ease. We have lived here permanently since the end of 2018, and the Costa del Sol has long been far more to us than just the place where we work. It is our home.

Over the years we have helped dozens of families from the Czech Republic and Slovakia buy property here. And anyone who is only just thinking about buying almost always asks us the same questions. What is the winter like? How long is the flight? What about doctors and schools? Is it worth owning property here? We answer from our own experience and with figures you can check for yourself.

The Costa del Sol at a glance

• The coast of southern Spain in Andalusia, on the Alboran Sea, the westernmost part of the Mediterranean. It stretches roughly 150 to 160 km from the small town of Nerja through Málaga, Marbella and Estepona all the way to Sotogrande.
• More than 320 days of sunshine a year, making it the sunniest place in Spain. Winter daytime temperatures of 18 °C, give or take three degrees, and an average annual temperature of 18.5 °C.
• Málaga Airport handled a record 26.8 million passengers in 2025. It is served by direct flights from across Europe, including Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Pardubice, Bratislava, Košice and nearby Vienna. The flight from Prague, Bratislava or Vienna takes a little over three hours.
• More than 70 golf courses, kilometres of promenades and coastal paths along the sea, public and private hospitals, and international schools.
• In 2025 foreigners accounted for 32.8% of property buyers in the province of Málaga.

Where exactly is the Costa del Sol?

The Costa del Sol is the coast of southern Spain in Andalusia, roughly 150 to 160 kilometres long. It does not start in Málaga, as people often say, but further east in the small town of Nerja, on the border with the province of Granada. From there it runs through Málaga and on westwards as far as Sotogrande, which already lies in the neighbouring province of Cádiz. On one side is the sea, or more precisely the Alboran Sea, the westernmost part of the Mediterranean before the Strait of Gibraltar. On the other side are the mountains, which shelter the coast from the north wind. That is why the climate here is so mild.

Each stretch of the coast has its own character. East of Málaga lies the Costa del Sol Oriental in the Axarquía area, with the towns of Nerja, Torrox, Vélez-Málaga and Rincón de la Victoria. It is quieter, with cliffs, little coves, white villages in the hills and avocado and mango plantations.

West of Málaga begins the better-known Costa del Sol Occidental. Torremolinos, Benalmádena and Fuengirola are the most built-up, and the classic beach holiday dominates there. Above Fuengirola, up in the hills, lies the white village of Mijas. Next comes cosmopolitan Marbella, which is far more than a summer resort and stays lively out of season too. It has a historic old town around the Plaza de los Naranjos, the Golden Mile with its hotels and beach clubs, and the Puerto Banús marina. In the hills behind Marbella and Estepona lies Benahavís, a small municipality full of golf courses and villas. Estepona is quieter than Marbella and has the relaxed feel of a smaller seaside town. In the centre, every little street has flowerpots on its walls painted in a colour of its own, so even small children can find their way around. The whole old town is full of flowers, which is why Estepona is known as the garden of the Costa del Sol. Beyond Estepona come Manilva with the Puerto de la Duquesa marina, Casares with its white village on a hilltop and finally Sotogrande, with its marina, polo tournaments and some of the best-known golf courses in Europe.

We spend most of our time in Marbella and Estepona. The two towns are about twenty minutes apart by car, and each has its own charm. Which one suits whom is something we look at in the next article in this series.

Winters like spring in Central Europe

In January we often have lunch out on the terrace. For the winter we have a simple rule of thumb. During the day it is 18 degrees, give or take three. Some days it is 15, others as much as 21. A jumper is enough for a morning walk along the promenade, and by midday a T-shirt often does the job. That is why many of our clients come here not just in summer but above all in winter, when it is grey back home.

The figures bear this out. The sun shines here on more than 320 days a year, and according to climate data from AEMET, the Spanish meteorological agency, the Costa del Sol is the sunniest place in Spain. The average annual temperature is 18.5 °C. In January the average daytime temperature is 16.8 °C, and it gets cooler at night. In August it is usually around 31 °C during the day, but there is a breeze off the sea and the evenings are pleasant.

On every viewing we check which way the terrace faces, and Radek points it out to every client. Terraces facing south and south-west get the sun almost all day, while those facing south-east and east suit anyone who loves the morning sun. If you mainly want to come here in winter, bear in mind that the north side tends to be cooler at that time of year.

Direct flights from across Europe

Our family and friends happily fly over for just a long weekend. They fly out from home in the morning and are on the beach by the afternoon.

Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport handled a record 26.8 million passengers in 2025, making it the fourth busiest in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona and Palma. It is served by direct flights from across Europe, including Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Pardubice, Bratislava, Košice and nearby Vienna, which is handy for southern Moravia and western Slovakia. Flights from Bratislava and Košice run in winter too.

The flight from Prague, Bratislava or Vienna takes a little over three hours, and from Košice just under four. From the airport it is about 45 minutes by car to Marbella and around an hour to Estepona.

Doctors and schools for everyday life, not just for holidays

Anyone who wants to spend more than a few weeks a year here asks us mainly about doctors and schools. We know both from our own experience, not from brochures. Our son Samuel moved here as a teenager, went to a Spanish school and now runs his own business here.

The public Hospital Costa del Sol in Marbella completed an expansion worth more than €100 million in March 2026. The site has grown to 90,000 m², with 16 additional operating theatres and a new radiotherapy unit. Estepona itself also has a new public hospital with an emergency department, outpatient clinics and rehabilitation, which is gradually expanding its services. On top of that, there are the private hospitals Quirónsalud Marbella, HC Marbella, Vithas Xanit and Hospiten Estepona. After a recent expansion, Hospiten Estepona has doubled its capacity and now has separate emergency departments for adults and children, an intensive care unit and 59 beds in total. What matters to our clients is that both Hospiten Estepona and Quirónsalud Marbella provide care 24 hours a day, seven days a week. These private hospitals are used to patients from abroad, and their staff speak English. We have used both private hospitals and the public health system ourselves.

In Marbella and Estepona alone there are seven British schools on the official list of the National Association of British Schools in Spain (NABSS), and eleven across the province of Málaga. At the British schools, children learn in English and in Spanish at the same time. There are also German, French and Swedish schools, and in Estepona an American one as well. If you would like your children to grow up in a Spanish environment, you can also choose a private bilingual school. Colegio San José in Estepona and San Pedro, for example, also offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma.

Sea, mountains and golf on your doorstep

When you head down to the sea in the morning, you have kilometres of paths along the water ahead of you. We go there regularly with our dog, we cycle, we bump into neighbours and we meet people from all over the world. In Marbella a wide town promenade runs from the centre all the way to Puerto Banús, and with its extension to San Pedro it is around 12 kilometres long. Estepona also has a wide town promenade, and it joins the Senda Litoral, a coastal path that carries on along the sea beyond the town. It is mostly paved, and where it crosses streams and rivers it runs over wooden footbridges. Once finished it will be around 23 kilometres long, and about 21 of them are already open, so there and back you can walk more than 40 kilometres. Locals like to say it is the longest coastal path in Europe, and we love it precisely because you can walk along it for hours and never leave the water's edge.

And looking ahead? Both towns lie on the route of the Senda Litoral, which is set to link roughly 180 kilometres of coastline in the province of Málaga, from Nerja all the way to the border with the province of Cádiz. About 80% of the route is already finished.

Just beyond the towns the mountains begin, with hiking trails and little white villages. What we have here we simply call quality of life. Blue skies, the sea, wonderful food, walks on the beach and sport outdoors at any time of year.

The Costa del Sol is nicknamed the Costa del Golf. There are more than 70 golf courses along the coast, and you can play all year round. If golf is not your thing, there is padel, tennis, sailing, horse riding and cycle paths along the sea. Marinas line the entire coast. One of the largest is in Benalmádena, and you will find others in Marbella (the town marina and Puerto Banús), in Estepona, in Manilva and, the most beautiful in our view, in Sotogrande. Large cruise ships also call at the port of Málaga. In 2025 they docked a record 331 times, bringing more than 570,000 passengers. For a day trip, there is Málaga with its Picasso Museum, Ronda perched above its gorge or Granada with the Alhambra.

People and safety

“I take the dog down to the sea even late in the evening, and I feel safe here. A few words of Spanish were all it took, and the locals welcomed us with open arms. They appreciate it when you respect their country and make the effort to learn Spanish.”

Lucie

People move to the province of Málaga from other parts of Spain, from elsewhere in Europe and from all over the world, and lately more and more often from the United States and Canada, for example. According to INE, Spain's national statistics institute, the province had more than 1.79 million inhabitants at the start of 2025, 18,000 more than a year earlier.

The international community is large, you can get by in English almost everywhere and you make friends quickly. Yet the Costa del Sol is still very much Spain, with tapas, local markets, fiestas and a slower pace of life that, after a few weeks, you start to take for granted.

Why own an apartment or villa here, and what it costs

For most of our clients, an apartment or villa on the Costa del Sol brings a double pleasure. It is a place to come and unwind, and at the same time an asset in euros in a market with demand from all over the world. In 2025, 36,117 properties were sold in the province of Málaga, and foreigners made up 32.8% of buyers, the second highest share in Spain.

Prices have also been rising over the long term, and that is good news even for those who are only now buying. Property on the Costa del Sol holds its value and appreciates over time. Over the past year prices rose most in Estepona, by 17.1% to €5,021/m² according to the idealista property portal, which shows just how sought-after Estepona is. If you are looking for more space at a more reasonable price, you will find it mainly in Manilva, where prices are more favourable than in Estepona. Casares offers quiet residential areas both by the sea and in green surroundings, and prices there depend a great deal on the exact location and the view. And Sotogrande, with its marina and famous golf courses, is one of the most exclusive addresses on the whole coast. You can choose from apartments with a terrace and sea views, townhouses and villas with their own garden and pool. You will find prices for each municipality in the table below. Sellers usually stand firm on price, and good properties attract a lot of interest. This is exactly where it pays to have someone on your side who knows the market and will help you choose and make your decision with a clear head.

When you are not using your property yourself, you can rent it out and earn an income from it. In our experience, rental yields are roughly 5 to 8% a year, depending on the location, the type of property and how often you let it. The rules for holiday lets, however, vary from one municipality to the next and from one building to another, so we will cover them in a separate article.

When you buy a resale property in Andalusia you pay 7% transfer tax, while on a new build you pay 10% VAT plus 1.2% stamp duty. We are preparing a detailed overview of all the costs involved in buying for one of our upcoming articles.

What nobody tells you

Here are a few things you will not read in the brochures, and which we are happy to tell you ourselves. July and August are the liveliest months on the coast, the beaches and restaurants are full and there is a buzz everywhere. If you prefer peace and quiet, you will love spring and autumn, when it is pleasantly warm, the sea is still warm in autumn and you have the waterfront almost to yourself.

A car comes in handy here. The local commuter train runs from Málaga and the airport to Fuengirola, but to get to Marbella and Estepona you need a car or a bus. A new coastal railway is still only at the planning stage. The roads, on the other hand, are excellent. Two main routes run along the coast, the AP-7 toll motorway for when you are in a hurry, and the four-lane A-7, which stays closer to the sea and to the individual towns. That makes driving here very easy, with none of the narrow country lanes you may know from other resorts.

And most important of all, there is constant demand for good apartments and villas here. That is why we put together a shortlist for you in advance, so that you can decide calmly. On viewings we also look out for things you cannot see in the photos, such as which way the property faces, noise, the condition of the building and any construction planned nearby.

The Costa del Sol in numbers

Indicator	Value	Source
Days of sunshine	more than 320 a year	Turismo Costa del Sol, AEMET
Winter daytime temperature (our experience)	18 °C, give or take three degrees	Lucie and Radek
Average annual temperature	18.5 °C	AEMET
January, 24-hour average and daytime average	12.1 °C and 16.8 °C	AEMET
August, 24-hour average and daytime average	26 °C and around 31 °C	AEMET
Málaga Airport passengers 2025	26.8 million	Aena
Flight time from Prague	a little over 3 hours	Skyscanner, Smartwings
Direct flights from Prague	Smartwings, Ryanair, Eurowings	Prague Airport
Direct flights from Brno, Ostrava and Pardubice	Ryanair	Brno Airport, Forbes.cz
Direct flights from Slovakia	Bratislava: Ryanair, Wizz Air; Košice: Ryanair	SITA, Wizz Air
Marbella town promenade (centre to San Pedro)	around 12 km	Andalucia.com
Estepona coastal path	around 23 km, of which about 21 km open (over 40 km there and back)	Ayuntamiento de Estepona, Euro Weekly News
Senda Litoral, province of Málaga (planned)	about 180 km, 80% complete	Andalucia.com
Golf courses on the coast	more than 70	Hosteltur
Cruise ships at the port of Málaga 2025	331 ship calls, 570,481 passengers (record)	Puerto de Málaga
British schools (NABSS) in Marbella and Estepona	7, with 11 in the province of Málaga	NABSS
Population of the province of Málaga (1 Jan 2025)	over 1.79 million	INE
Population of Estepona (1 Jan 2025)	almost 80,000	INE
Properties sold, province of Málaga 2025	36,117	Registradores
Share of foreign buyers 2025	32.8%	Registradores
Asking price, Marbella, September 2026	€5,967/m² (+3.2% year on year)	idealista
Asking price, Benahavís, September 2026	€5,602/m² (+6.5%)	idealista
Asking price, Estepona, September 2026	€5,021/m² (+17.1%)	idealista
Asking price, Mijas, September 2026	€3,717/m² (+8.5%)	idealista
Asking price, Casares, August 2026	€3,197/m²	idealista
Asking price, Manilva, September 2026	€3,043/m² (+11.3%)	idealista
Rent, province of Málaga, September 2026	€18.8/m² per month	idealista
Rent, Estepona, September 2026	€21.1/m² per month	idealista
Rental yield (our experience)	roughly 5 to 8% a year	Lucie and Radek
Transfer tax, resale property (Andalusia)	7%	Junta de Andalucía
New build	10% VAT + 1.2% stamp duty	Junta de Andalucía

Figures correct as of 19 October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What is the weather like on the Costa del Sol in winter?

For January and February we have a simple rule, 18 °C during the day, give or take three degrees, so 15 to 21 °C. According to AEMET, the average daytime temperature in January is 16.8 °C, and it gets cooler at night. There is little rain, and the sun shines on more than 320 days a year. In winter we regularly have lunch out on the terrace.

How long is the flight to the Costa del Sol?

Málaga Airport is served by direct flights from across Europe, including Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Pardubice, Bratislava, Košice and nearby Vienna. The flight from Prague, Bratislava or Vienna takes a little over three hours, and from Košice just under four.

How much does an apartment or villa on the Costa del Sol cost?

It depends on the municipality and the type of property. In September 2026 average asking prices were €5,967/m² in Marbella, €5,602/m² in Benahavís, €5,021/m² in Estepona, €3,197/m² in Casares (August) and €3,043/m² in Manilva. Sotogrande is one of the most exclusive addresses on the coast. Villas with a plot, a garden and a pool cost more than apartments, and their price depends mainly on the location and the view. You will find a wide choice in each of these municipalities.

What taxes do you pay when buying property on the Costa del Sol?

On a resale property you pay 7% transfer tax, and on a new build 10% VAT and 1.2% stamp duty. On top of that come notary, land registry and lawyer's fees.

Can I buy property in Spain as a Czech or Slovak citizen?

Yes. EU citizens buy property in Spain on the same terms as Spaniards. You need a foreigner's identification number (NIE) and a Spanish bank account. We will help you with both.

Can you rent out an apartment or villa on the Costa del Sol?

Yes. In our experience, rental yields are roughly 5 to 8% a year, depending on the location, the type of property and how often you let it. Holiday lets do, however, require a licence, and the regulations vary by municipality and by the statutes of the owners' community, so we check them before you buy.

Where is the best place to buy on the Costa del Sol?

It depends on what you are looking for. Marbella is cosmopolitan and lively, Estepona quieter and full of flowers, Benahavís appeals to golfers and Mijas is more affordable. We look at this in detail in the next article.

Would you like to know more?

Are you thinking about an apartment or villa of your own on the Costa del Sol? Drop us a line and we will arrange a short call. We will tell you how things really work here and show you places you would never find on your own.

Lucie and Radek Špreňar

We run LUCKY SOL, a family real estate agency. We have lived on the Costa del Sol all year round since the end of 2018 and help Czechs and Slovaks buy their second home by the sea. We are always on the buyers' side.

Updated 19 October 2026

Sources

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39. NABSS, list of British schools in Andalusia (Marbella 6, Estepona 1, province of Málaga 11; retrieved 19 October 2026). https://nabss.org/ubicacion-unica-colegios/andalucia
40. HC Marbella International Hospital: international patients, bilingual medical staff. https://www.hcmarbella.com/en/servicios/centro-del-cancer/area-de-pacients/pacientes-internacionales/
41. Euro Weekly News, 12 April 2026: Boardwalk for all of Estepona's 23-kilometre coastline almost there (21 of 23 km open, one of the longest continuous coastal paths in the region). https://euroweeklynews.com/2026/04/12/boardwalk-for-all-of-esteponas-23-kilometre-coastline-almost-there/
42. Hosteltur: Costa del Sol, un paraíso verde para los aficionados del golf (more than 70 courses, the largest choice in continental Europe). https://devel.hosteltur.com/164919_costa-del-sol-un-paraiso-verde-para-los-aficionados-del-golf.html