Why go
The remains and place names associated with La Concepción, El Ángel and San Pedro Alcántara reveal a working landscape largely absent from Marbella’s resort image. Ironmaking drew on mountain ore, fuel and water; when the industry declined, farming and fishing again mattered to many households. This context gives the western municipality and its inland edge a different meaning.
The full story
In the early nineteenth century, Manuel Agustín Heredia developed La Concepción to exploit iron ore near Ojén. The industry depended on more than the ore itself: charcoal from mountain slopes and water from the Río Verde helped support smelting. Other works, including El Ángel, formed part of the same industrial chapter. West of the old town, the Marqués del Duero established an agricultural colony that became central to San Pedro Alcántara. These projects briefly changed employment and settlement patterns in a place now better known for leisure. The iron industry then contracted, while agricultural difficulties, including vine disease, added pressure to local livelihoods. Many residents relied again on farming or fishing. This history matters because the coast’s present appearance can obscure how closely Marbella once depended on the Sierra Blanca, river valleys and cultivated land. Look beyond the old town and hotels to understand that earlier economy.
Useful to know
- Use San Pedro Alcántara and the inland mountain edge as geographic anchors when reading this period.