The whole line of coast bristles with towers, built originally to give intelligence by signal of the appearance of an enemy. They are of all shapes and ages; some circular, having a Roman look; others angular, and either Moorish, or built after Saracenic models; many are of comparatively recent construction, though all seem equally to be going to decay.
These towers can be entered only by means of ladders, and such as are in a habitable state are occupied by Custom-house guards, or, more correctly, Custom-house defrauders. Here and there a Casa fuerta has been erected along the line, which, furnished with artillery and a small garrison of regular troops, serves as a point d’appui to a certain portion of the peculative cordon, enabling the soldiers to render assistance to the revenue officers in bringing the smugglers to terms.
Marbella has ever been a bone of contention amongst the antiquaries; some asserting that it does not occupy the site of any ancient city; others, that it is on the ruins of Salduba. Of this latter opinion is La Martinière, who certainly has better reason for maintaining than Carter for disputing it. For if that city “stood on a steep headland, between which and the hill” (behind) “not a beast could pass,” it could not possibly have been on the site where our countryman places it, viz., at the ruins near the Torre de las Bovedas (seven miles to the westward), where a wide plain stretches inland upwards of two miles.
In fact, there are but two headlands between the river Guadiaro and Marbella, where a town could be built at all answering the foregoing description; namely, at the Torre de la Chullera and the Torre del Arroyo Vaquero, the former only three, the latter ten miles from the Guadiaro: and a far more likely spot than either of these is the knoll occupied by the Torre del Rio Real, about two miles to the eastward of Marbella.[178]
Marbella stands slightly elevated above the sea, and its turreted walls and narrow streets declare it to be thoroughly Moorish. Its sea-wall is not actually washed by the waves of the Mediterranean, so that the town may be avoided by such as do not wish to be delayed by or subjected to the nuisance of a passport scrutiny; and the Spanish saying, “Marbella es bella, pero no entras en ella,”[179] significantly, though mysteriously, suggests the prudence of staying outside its walls; but this poetical scrap of advice was perhaps the only thing some luckless contrabandista had left to bestow upon his countrymen, and we, being in search of a dinner and night’s lodging, submitted patiently to the forms and ceremonies prescribed on such occasions at the gates of a fortress.
To do the Spaniards justice, they are not usually very long in their operations, the first offer being in most instances accepted without haggling; and accordingly, the peseta pocketed, and every thing pronounced corriente, we proceeded without further obstruction to the Posada de la Corona, which, situated in a fine airy square, we were agreeably surprised to find a remarkably good inn.
Marbella, though invested with the pomp and circumstance of war, is but a contemptible fortress. An old Moorish castle, standing in the very heart of the town, constitutes its chief strength; for, though its circumvallation is complete and tolerably erect, considering its great age, yet, from the inconsiderable height of the walls, and the inefficient flanking fire that protects them, they could offer but slight resistance to an enemy.
A detached fort, that formerly covered the place from attack on the sea side, and flanked the eastern front of the enceinte of the town, has been razed to the ground, so that ships may now attack it almost with impunity.
The town is particularly clean and well inhabited, the fishing portion of the population being located more conveniently for their occupation in a large suburb on its eastern side. The fortress encloses several large churches and religious houses, besides the citadel or Moorish castle, so that within the walls the space left for streets is but small; the inhabitants of the town itself cannot therefore be estimated at more than five thousand, whilst those of the suburb may probably amount to fifteen hundred.
The trade of Marbella is but trifling; the fruit and vegetables grown in its neighbourhood are, it is true, particularly fine, but the proximity of the precipitous Sierra de Juanal limits cultivation to a very narrow circuit round the walls of the town; and, on the other hand, the valuable mines in the vicinity, which formerly secured Marbella a prosperous trade, have for many years been totally abandoned: so that, in fact, there is little else than fish to export.