Three mornings in the old town

Before the shutters go up, Marbella belongs to whoever is already awake.

Guests arrive with an afternoon plan and a list of restaurants. Almost nobody arrives with a morning plan, which is a shame, because the four hours between seven and eleven are the only ones the old town keeps for itself. Here is what we would do with three of them.

Turn left out of the door and walk up. Four minutes later the Plaza de los Naranjos is being swept, the chairs are still stacked, and the orange trees smell of nothing at all until the sun reaches them. Take a table at the café on the north side, order toast and a cortado, and watch the deliveries. By half past nine the first tour group appears at the corner and the spell breaks. You will have had the better part of it.

The second morning: the market

Seven minutes north, the Mercado opens at eight and empties by two. Go for the fish counter at the back, where whatever came in overnight is laid on ice and grilled to order for less than a starter costs on the promenade. Buy fruit on the way out. If you are staying in a Signature Suite or the One-Bedroom you have a kitchen, and a kilo of tomatoes bought here will improve every meal you cook for the rest of the week.

Nine minutes downhill and you are on the Paseo Marítimo. Turn east. The paving runs flat for the best part of an hour, past the fishing boats and the old bathing huts, and the sea at that hour is glass. Swim at Fontanilla before the beds are laid out, walk back along the water, and be showered and out again by eleven with the whole day still ahead of you.