"Sabinillas and Duquesa - two sides of... " a Estacar de la Duquesa Travel Page by Ekaterinburg

Puerto de la Duquesa is a fairly upmarket resort on the Costa del Sol situated about half way between Estepona and Sotogrande. Built around a yacht marina and fishing harbour, it really is an idyllic little spot where the same people come year after year and congratulate themselves on their good fortune in finding it. It's a perfect place to relax in as there is little in the way of noisy night life and all the bars and restaurants are clustered round the harbour. All the buildings in the port/marina area are of a similar design and what it lacks in old buildings, it certainly makes up for with elegant architecture and planning.

Duquesa itself is tiny. Just the port area and about two blocks back on either side ,of elegant, magnificently landscaped apartment buildings. The highway is behind, the sea in front and no matter how many developments sprout on the hills on the other side of the highway, the resort itself cannot be blemished or overdeveloped in anyway. But the really nice thing for the residents, is that as well as all this manicured perfection, they are flanked on either side by very Spanish settlements. On the Gibraltar side is the miniscule village of El Castillo and on the Estepona side, the town of Sabinillas. Sabinillas is a no- frills, average Spanish town and apart from the restaurants on the Paseo, there is little evidence of tourism. From Duquesa to Sabinillas is a 10 minute stroll along the Paseo Maritim and up there you can enjoy a really different way of life. So really, there is the best of both worlds here.
This photo is of a typical house front in Sabinillas.

Great name , EL Castillo but in truth it is probably a little unrepresentative of the village itself. There IS a castle but the village surrounding it is so tiny that if you blinked you'd miss it. Because it's so small it has got swallowed up a little between Duquesa and the developments on it's other side, but be that as it may, it remains pretty and atmospheric. On the 'off the beaten track 'section of this page there will be more photos and details about Sabinillas and Castillo.