MARBELLA, Spain--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 8, 2026--
Over 320 sunny days each year, an extensive infrastructure and medical care, good air links - these are just some of advantages of Costa del Sol. This unique region, located in southern Spain, is called “California of Europe” for good reason and attracts attention with its appealing real estate market.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260407922171/en/
What sets the Costa del Sol apart?
Marbella is nestled between the mountains and the sea - it enjoys a mild, unique microclimate that ensures pleasant temperatures year-round. This has also earned nickname: the “Costa del Golf” - as few places in the world offer such outstanding conditions and infrastructure for the sport.
- Beyond golf courses, Costa del Sol is also recognized for its rich selection of international schools and advanced healthcare. This is one reason why moving to southern Spain is becoming increasingly popular. Today Costa del Sol is becoming the first choice for many - including as a place to spend retirement and one's “golden years” - says Agnieszka Marciniak-Kostrzewa, founder of Agnes Inversiones, a real estate agency with more than 20 years of experience.
Live long and happily in Spain
Malaga Airport provides excellent flight connections from across the globe - including USA. The region’s connectivity is further enhanced by a rail system that reaches Madrid in 3 hours, while trips to Seville, Cordoba, Granada take just 2 hours.
Southern Spain is a cosmopolitan hub - yet it is steeped in history that stretches back to Roman times. Costa del Sol is celebrated for its unique, tranquil lifestyle - where life moves slower - and often longer - thanks to Mediterranean diet and abundant sunshine.
Americans are discovering southern Spain
Marbella, famed for its luxury real estate, was recently named the best place to live. Local market is highly diverse, ranging from apartments priced at €400,000 to exclusive penthouses and villas worth at least several millions of euros.
Europeans dominate the ranking of foreign property buyers. In 2025, the British led with an average share of 7.96% - followed by Germans (6.52%) and Dutch (6.31%). Investors from USA accounted for roughly 1.75%. With property price growth projected at 5-9% for 2026, Costa del Sol is emerging as a stable and attractive market for American buyers.
Agnieszka Marciniak-Kostrzewa is a long-time expert and advisor in selection, purchase, and management of luxury properties in Spain. She is the founder and managing director of Agnes Inversiones, which has brokered nearly 120 property sales worth approximately €150 million over the past two years alone.
Over 320 sunny days each year, an extensive infrastructure and medical care, good air links - these are just some of the advantages of the Costa del Sol.
WASHINGTON (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is expected to meet with President Donald Trump on Wednesday to try to smooth over the president's anger with the military alliance over the Iran war.
Trump had suggested the U.S. may consider leaving the trans-Atlantic alliance after NATO member countries ignored his call to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping waterway, as Iran effectively shut it and sent gas prices soaring.
The Republican president's meeting with Rutte, with whom he had a warm relationship, comes as the U.S. and Iran late Tuesday agreed to a two-week ceasefire that includes the reopening of the strait. The nascent ceasefire was struck after Trump said he would strike Iran's power plants and bridges, threatening that “a whole civilization will die tonight."
The plan to reopen the strait is still cloudy and is expected to be a central focus of the Wednesday afternoon meeting with Rutte. The White House said the meeting was expected to be behind closed doors. In the Trump administration, though, that can change at the last minute, and meetings can be opened to the press.
Congress in 2023 passed a law that prevents any U.S. president from pulling out of NATO without its approval. Trump has been a longtime critic of NATO and in his first term had suggested he had the authority on his own to leave the alliance, which was founded in 1949 to counter the Cold War threat posed to European security by the Soviet Union.
The crux of the commitment its 32 member countries make is a mutual defense agreement in which an attack on one is considered an attack on them all. The only time it has been activated was in 2001, to support the United States in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Despite that, Trump has complained during his war of choice with Iran that NATO has shown it will not be there for the U.S.
Ahead of the meeting, Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, issued a statement Tuesday night in support of the alliance, noting that, “Following the September 11th attacks, NATO allies sent their young servicemembers to fight and die alongside America’s own in Afghanistan and Iraq.” McConnell, who sits on a committee overseeing defense spending, urged Trump to be “clear and consistent” and said it's not in America's interest to “spend more time nursing grudges with allies who share our interests than deterring adversaries who threaten us.”
If Rutte's meeting does not alleviate Trump's frustrations, it's unclear if the Trump administration would challenge the law barring a president from pulling out of NATO. When the law passed, it was championed by Trump's current secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who at the time was a senator from Florida.
The alliance was already rattled over the past year as Trump returned to power and reduced U.S. military support for Ukraine in the war against Russia and threatened to seize Greenland from ally Denmark.
But Trump's badgering of NATO intensified after the Iran war began at the end of February, with the president insisting that securing the Strait of Hormuz was not America's job but the responsibility of countries that depend on the flow of oil through it.
“Go to the strait and just take it,” Trump said last week.
Trump was also angered as NATO allies Spain and France forbade or restricted use of their airspace or joint military facilities for the U.S. in the Iran war. They and other nations, however, agreed to help with an international coalition to open the Strait of Hormuz when the conflict ends.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has been a particular source of Trump's frustration, was set to travel on Wednesday to the Gulf to support the ceasefire. The U.K. has been working on developing a post-conflict security plan for the strait, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil passes.
Trump has previously threatened to leave NATO and often said that he would abandon allies who don’t spend enough on their military budgets. Former NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, in his recent memoir, said he feared that Trump might walk away from the alliance in 2018, during his first term as president.
Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during the launch of the NATO Secretary General's Annual Report for 2025 at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte takes questions from journalists during the launch of the NATO Secretary General's Annual Report for 2025 at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters during the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters during the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
FILE - President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House, Oct. 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
