Puerto Banus and its front line has held the party scene crown in the Costa del Sol for over 40 years but in recent times the rise of the ‘second line’ or ‘back line’ party bar strip has seen a rival emerge.
Always regarded as the place to people spot and marvel at the mass of super cars and even more so at the immense mega-yachts, the front line marina has no equal.
But where the better night out is to be had – front line or back line – opinions vary.
Along the front line, The Sinatra Bar, News Café, Babilonia and Pangea Club now must vie with fast becoming the go to places on the second line; Bijoux, Linekers Bar, O’Grady’s and Seven Bar. Once looked upon as their lowly neighbours, these venues are now the secret (maybe dirty secret) places for what is considered the best night out in Puerto Banus, even for the glamorous rich and famous.
Established in the 1960s, Puerto Banus quickly rose to become the hotspot for the world’s glitterati and hit its zenith in the 1980s – certainly rivalling, if not beating its French counterparts – Cannes, St. Tropez and Monte Carlo – as the place to see and be seen. With the consistently fabulous weather, wondrous sea views, alluring Andalucía charm and effortless appeal of the laid-back lifestyle, it is not hard to see why Puerto Banus maintained this position for the following decades.
But all good things must come to an end, and as the global markets struggled in the late 2000s so did Puerto Banus and every other tourist location in Europe.
Forced to reinvent itself, it did so with the surge in popularity for a cheaper but nonetheless great night out in a once super exclusive resort – and as such the second line emerged.
With the influx of new people and partygoers to Puerto Banus there is always bound to be some naysayers who don’t look on this new image favourably and hanker for the return to the exclusivity the front line afforded; but the second line is here to stay.
With more bars and now high-end restaurants opening there year on year and with several front line closures or reopenings as boutique shops, the transition seems to reinforce the idea that the second line has its place in Puerto Banus.
Many front line bars have entrances on both the front and second line now and cater to both crowds easily, and as such the presumed gap between the two ‘lines’ is lessening or is lesser than previously thought.
One such bar is Portside, part of the rapidly increasing portfolio of the Linekers Group, managed by the workaholic and effortlessly glamorous, Lina Hodgkins; often referred to in the close knit Banus community as ‘Mummy Marbella’.
Lina moved to Marbella in 2004 and a few months later found herself working with Linekers Group. After several years running the PR teams for just Linekers Bar and Portside, she is now, eight years later the Marketing Director for all of the Group’s venues which still include, Linekers and Portside but now comprise Bijoux, The Lounge, Babilonia, Premier Lounge, CAFE Rotana, Tibu Rooftop restaurant and nightclub Tibu.
Lina says she has certainly noticed the changes over the last few years, as the bars on the front line started to close and become shops, more bars opened on the back line.
“It has changed so much over the last 10 years. As the front line became shops, the back line was the place to go.”
And what she says is very apparent as many of the venues which make up the marina are now very high-end boutique shops catering to the super rich.
“There is a misconception with the front line and back line. Drink prices are much the same and both have the big spenders. There is no age or money barrier in the back line.”
Much of the newer and very cool bars which have sprung up are indeed focused on the back line. Emulating the front tier in glitz and glamour, just more accessible to the ordinary people visiting Puerto Banus every day.
“For €50 you can have a great time on the back line but near enough next door it can cost you a lot more,” Lina says.
And this is where the presumed differences don’t apply. The cost of an evening can be as varied in both parades. And as varied equally in style of venue and clientele to music and dress code. The marina, with its sea views, is predominantly busy all day but as day turns to evening entertainment the marina fills up with pleasure seekers, but past midnight things begin to change.
‘”You are limited on the marina in terms of space. From 1am onwards the people in the bars along the front begin to migrate towards the back. It’s more stylish at the front and more of a mix up in the back,” Lina adds.
“Babilonia is a very chic, cool place. Portside is more chilled, plays great music and is more accessible. It’s all about the second line!” Lina concludes with a smile.
And she is right. The main attraction in Puerto Banus might have been the marina and the super cars and yachts and designer boutiques which only the front line can boast – and long may it continue – but the back line certainly has its attractions in a heady mix of bars and clubs – which in many terms is more suited to a new generation of revellers.
The second line is tapping into a bracket of younger groups of people – some with the power to spend similar amounts of money as the folks on the front line. With the rise of popular reality television stars – of which Lina is one and also helps to encourage – visiting Puerto Banus and partying freely with ‘everyone’ helps inspire the notion that ‘everyone’ is a VIP. Which isn’t a bad thing.
There are still very much VIP sections in many of the bars and clubs but no ‘Velvet Rope’.
Although Puerto Banus may not be the totally exclusive place it used to be, it has certainly evolved. There are still the same (if not more) super cars and (even bigger) mega yachts moored in the expanding marina and more of the financial crisis immune inhabitants but there is also a larger portion of younger, livelier partygoers eager to experience a taste of this high-life without the sometimes immense expense.
The second line affords them this and who can begrudge that?
Puerto Banus will always have its superb location and climate but now has an accessibility to the non-super rich socialites which it may not have had in the past and in order for the place to not become an off-season ‘ghost town’ it has to stop bemoaning this influx, rather embrace it.
