FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

SWIRLING a glass of flinty French rose, he looked every bit the suave English gentleman you’d expect of Hugh Grant. Holding court with a group of friends on a warm early summer evening, hardly anyone batted an eyelid.

It was early June, after all, and Marbella was at its very finest; the scent of orange blossom in the air, the bougainvillaea in full bloom, candles on every table. There was so much else for the throngs of tourists to be taking in.

At the request of the restaurant owner I took a quick snap (left) of the Hollywood star on my iPhone, but declined to interrupt his convivial terrace bonhomie.

Grant’s regular trips to Marbella have sparked rumours over the years that he owns a house in the resort, in particular, in the luxury hillside enclave of La Zagaleta. But, when I was actually introduced to him recently in London, the Notting Hill star told me it was ‘merely a good marketing tool for local estate agents’. He certainly loves the place, he explained, but mostly he’s down, these days, on business or to film.

It perfectly summed up the resort, which has rightfully earned the reputation of being southern Spain’s playground for the rich and famous.

Full of tycoons, movers and shakers and, increasingly, tech billionaires, Marbella manages to remain Europe’s top location for a spot of business, alongside pleasure.

A town of over 150,000 yearround residents, it is almost uniquely a resort that never hibernates.

Indeed, as most locals will nowadays tell you, the best months are from October to May, when the tourist numbers remain manageable, while all the top restaurants are still open and the sports clubs buzzing.

Meanwhile, infrastructure-wise