Istan Costa del Sol Marbella

The village of Istán is tucked away beneath the Sierra Blanca at the head of the valley of the rio Verde, and 20 minutes drive from Marbella. As with so many mountain villages, creations of a time and place in which the only practical means of transport was the mule and the packhorse, Istáns streets are narrow and unsuited to the motor car. The only sensible way to experience it is on foot.

There are four à la carte restaurants in Istán:

Troyano, El Baron, Rincon de Curro, Entresierras and the new Las Harales in the Rural Hotel at the entrance of the village. There are also bars that serve an excellent selection of tapas. It does boast one hotel, though it had to wait until 1998 to acquire it. Whether that heralds an influx of foreign visitors who may become the nucleus of a large expatriate community remains to be seen, but for the time being Istán remains closer to its roots than many of its cousins.

The village aptly echoes night and day to the sound of water running constantly from its drinking fountains. Aptly, because it stands close to the huge reservoir created by the Presa de la Concepción dam, which was built in 1972 and provides drinking water to towns all along the coast. The water feeding Istán's fountains, however, is the pure, unprocessed mountain variety which was much prized long before the coming of the dam. Just outside the village, where it cascades freely from the rocks, motorists often stop to fill their jugs and cans.

Very little remains of Moorish Istán, merely the crumbling remains of a tower hidden in a side street, but at least there is some, and the village still has the timeless air that outsiders find so appealing.

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