The Hotel Pez Espada opened in 1959 as one of the first luxury hotels on the Costa del Sol and became a magnet for Hollywood stars and European royalty during the early boom years of Spanish tourism. It represents the original vision of Torremolinos as a stylish international destination, long before the mass-market package holiday took over.
The hotel still operates today, and even if you are not staying there, it is worth walking past or having a drink at the bar to get a sense of the architecture and scale of the original project. The guest list reads like a mid-century who's-who: Umberto II of Italy, King Baudouin of Belgium, the Empress Soraya of Persia, and the Rothschilds stayed alongside the film stars.