San Pedro area guide: compact, serene and traditional
A quiet and tranquil town. A 'true slice' of traditional Spain. One of the most untouched corners of the Costa del Sol and a Spanish stronghold that has successfully defended itself from the waves of property development that has washed along the coast in recent years. Whatever you may have heard about San Pedro de Alcántara, chances are that much of it, while well-intentioned, will be inaccurate.
On the world stage, San Pedro de Alcántara is as unknown as can be. There are no travel agent's windows in Swindon High Street plastered with hastily felt-tipped 'Sun in San P – kids go free!' offers. There are no Facebook postings of 'Legendary' weekends spent tearing up the streets of San Pedro from attention-seeking 20-somethings. And there are no to little property developments located in the town. San Pedro de Alcántara is content to stay serenely under the radar, only developing a local reputation, and even then it's one based on benign fact rather than fantastical fiction
The town that forms the majority of what is San Pedro de Alcántara is a square-shaped collection of tightly-knit whitewashed building, straight and narrow streets and a main central plaza that is overlooked by a lovely church. Compact, bright, laid-back and certainly extremely traditional, San Pedro de Alcántara is a favourite with holidaymakers of a certain type, particularly those who take pleasure from strolling through peaceful streets, enjoying a relaxing cup of coffee or glass of beer, sampling a selection of terrific tapas and simply enjoying the sunshine.
Away from the cheek-by-jowl apartments, shops, bars and offices that comprise the busy yet somehow perennially peaceful centre of San Pedro de Alcántara, the newer urbanisations of Nueva Alcántara form something of a front garden for the town. Cross the busy N340 coastal road and a kilometre's worth of wide boulevards, grid-shaped developments and grassy lawns stretch out before you, fronted by the shimmering azure-blue of the Mediterranean. Here, hundreds of expats, Madrileños and other Spaniards have holiday homes, hidden in vast developments and enveloped by an other-worldly sense of stillness. In the summer, everyone's either at the beach or round the pool, and in the winter, everyone's everywhere but here. The beach and promenade act as an open-air gym, solarium and nightclub all in one – aside from the church plaza, the epicentre of San Pedro life is here, where all celebrations, family outings and first dates seem to take place. Spaniards – creatures of habit for sure – are joined sporadically by a smattering of expat Brits, Irish and Scandinavians, all trying to fit into the locals' way of life. They often succeed, too.
You don't need an alarm clock in San Pedro de Alcántara. If the blinding sunlight reflecting off the omnipresent white walls doesn’t wake you, the barking dogs and roaring mopeds certainly will. San Pedro welcomes the day like pretty much every town and city in Spain – with a cacophony of noise, as though the coming warmth and light of the day shakes each and every local from bed with a vigour that is rarely experienced by Northern Europeans.
Following such a blistering start, the Spaniards of San Pedro then seemingly slow down as the heat of the day intensifies. Again, such a pattern is commonplace throughout much of Spain – the siesta is no gimmick or excuse to avoid work and catch forty winks – it is an essential break from the stifling heat of the daytime, and a reason why Spaniards have so much get up and go in the morning and late into the evening.
The best thing for a holidaymaker or expat to do is to go along with it. Get up early, enjoy a lazy breakfast in the rising sunshine, stroll through the pleasant San Pedro streets doffing a cap and offering an 'hola' to the locals sat on the town's numerous benches. Shop at your leisure in the few, but interesting, clothing boutiques and toy stores before retiring to the beach, the pool or the cool shade of your apartment in the afternoon. For residents, the town has everything you could want, including a couple of large well-priced supermarkets (Mercadona and Día), a drive-thru McDonalds, an A&E department, the International College, a 24-hour pharmacy, plenty of lovely restaurants and superb access to the rest of the Costa del Sol.
Facing the coastal road – and unmissable to any driver stuck at the lights and heading west – is the Hogan Stand Irish Pub. A magnet for holidaymakers staying in San Pedro, The Hogan Stand is pretty much the only non-Spanish bar in the town and, as a result, is an intriguing place to visit, standing as it does alone amidst plenty of bodegas, discotecas and Da Bruno’s restaurants. Inside, you receive a warm welcome, slightly higher prices but an unmistakeably 'holidaymakers' atmosphere.
Elsewhere, San Pedro will surprise you with the choice and vibrancy of its nightlife. The 'Forbidden Square' is somewhat shabby during the day – as many nightspots tend to be – but at night (particularly weekends during the summer), the ten or so bars-cum-clubs that front the square stay open until late, pump out a variety of disco and pop music all night and attract a young and mostly local crowd who spill out into the square and mingle happily until sunrise. In between this weekly ritual, the Spaniards often find themselves faced with the occasional lost group of British revellers looking for Puerto Banús, but satisfied to have found instead the happy and heaving heart of San Pedro's nightlife scene.
Additional night activity can be enjoyed in the form of a couple of vibrant salsa bars, a delightful smattering of tapas bars and the Plaza de Iglesia, where plenty of free open-air concerts take place at numerous intervals throughout the year.