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Town guide · the coast

Manilva

The last town on the Málaga coast before Cádiz: a small marina, Blue Flag beaches and prices a step below Estepona, with Málaga airport about an hour away.

Right now in Manilva: 23°, showers, sunset 20:0318,165 people (2025) · Blue Flag beaches and a marina · 55 to 80 min to Málaga airport · 35 min to Gibraltar

Photo: Andalusien Aktuell, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mediterranean SeaWESTEASTAGPEsteponaMarbellaFuengirolaMijasBenalmádenaTorremolinosMálagaNerjaAlh. de la TorreCártamaCoínAlh. el GrandeManilva
Manilva on the real coastline, west to east. AGP is Málaga airport, and a dotted line marks an inland town's shortest distance to the sea.

Manilva is really three places. The old pueblo sits inland on a hill among vineyards, with the town hall, the church and very few foreigners. Down on the coast, San Luis de Sabinillas is the working seaside town, a long seafront of flats, cafés and a proper beach, and it's where most people actually live. Along the shore from it is Puerto de la Duquesa, a small marina ringed by white apartments and restaurants, with the Duquesa golf course and the urbanisations spread up the hill behind.

It suits buyers who want a seaside flat with a pool for less than Estepona asks, who are happy to drive, and who like having Sotogrande a quarter of an hour away and Gibraltar not much further. It's less suited to anyone flying in for long weekends, since Málaga airport is about an hour away and more in traffic, and to anyone buying to let to holidaymakers around Duquesa, where the council has stopped new tourist-let licences for up to three years.

The practical page

Where things actually are.

Every link below was opened and checked on 28 September 2026. Drive times are measured on Google Maps at a normal hour, not guessed.

I.

Getting there and around

  • 16 min to Sotogrande International School (18.6 km, via AP-7)
  • 16 min to Estepona bus station (19.5 km, via AP-7)
  • 35 min to Gibraltar airport (35.3 km, via AP-7 and A-7), typically 35 to 50, plus the queue at the border
  • 35 min to Marbella (47.2 km, via AP-7), typically 35 to 55 on a weekday morning
  • 55 min to Málaga airport (95.8 km, via AP-7), typically 55 to 80 on a weekday morning
II.

Everyday life

III.

Health

Residents register with the public system through the local health centre. How that works for Irish owners is in the healthcare guide.

IV.

Schools

V.

Property

What your money buys here.

The average asking price in Manilva was €3,035 per m² in August 2026, +11.3% on a year earlier (idealista price report). The examples below were opened and read on 28 September 2026. Stock moves weekly, so treat them as the shape of the market, not as houses to buy.

€

€319,000

A three-bed, three-bath flat of 130 m² beside the Duquesa golf course, a few minutes from the marina, with sea views, a south-facing terrace, a communal pool and parking included. Sold furnished.

Opened and read on the portal. The listing says first floor with no lift but the description says ground floor with a lower level, so ask for the plans. No tourist licence mentioned, and Duquesa is in the zone where new ones are suspended.

€

€320,000

A three-bed, two-bath flat of 135 m² on the fourth floor, with a lift, on Avenida de España in the middle of Sabinillas: south-east terrace with sea and mountain views, a communal pool, underground parking, five minutes' walk to the beach.

Opened and read. Sabinillas is outside the suspended zone, but the building's community would still have to approve any holiday letting.

€

€329,000

A three-bed, three-bath duplex penthouse of 134 m² on a frontline golf complex at La Duquesa, built in 2003, with a lift, golf and part sea views, adult and children's pools and parking, five minutes' walk to the beach and the marina.

Opened and read. The advert sells it on holiday-rental demand but gives no tourist licence number, and this is the suspended zone. That's exactly the flat to check before anyone pays for a rental story.

Add 10 to 13% on top of any price for taxes and fees. The cost calculator gives the real number for a given price.

What we'd tell you on the phone

The parts that aren't in the brochure.

If you want to let to holidaymakers, read this first. On 4 December 2025 the council suspended new tourist-let licences and registrations for up to three years in its Zone A, the saturated zone, which takes in the Castillo de la Duquesa area including the marina and the Duquesa golf, plus Alcorrín and Chullera. Sabinillas and the pueblo are outside it. The ordinance that drew the zones hasn't come into force: the council has folded it into a change to the town plan, so the rules could still move. A flat already registered keeps its registration, but the ordinance says nothing about what happens on a sale, so have your lawyer confirm it for the specific flat before you sign.

Málaga airport is about an hour away, typically 55 to 80 minutes on a weekday morning, and there's no direct coach. Gibraltar is closer, but it has few routes and a border in the middle. If you'll be flying in every few weeks, this is the wrong end of the coast.

There's no hospital in the municipality. The health centre in Sabinillas handles the everyday; the nearest emergency department is in Estepona, about twenty minutes away.

Prices vary a lot inside the town. In August 2026 idealista had the area around the port at €3,549 a square metre and La Duquesa at €2,678, with Sabinillas at €3,122. Asking prices rose 11.3% in the year, so compare like with like and get a valuation before an offer.

Duquesa and the golf urbanisations are largely holiday homes and go quiet out of season. Sabinillas and the pueblo are where people live all year. Check the map pin, not just the word Manilva on the listing.

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