Marbella Honours Smadar Kahana and the International Community That Built the City

On Europe Day 2026, the Marbella City Council honoured the residents and organisations whose commitment to the city goes far beyond their professional success, among them, Engel & Völkers Marbella Managing Director Smadar Kahana, for whom selling property has always meant selling something bigger: a city, a community, a way of life.

Few cities in Europe can claim what Marbella does with genuine conviction: a resident population drawn from more than 150 nationalities that forms one of Europe’s most vibrant international communities. Living, working, and building lives side by side under the same Andalusian sun. On 8th May 2026, the Marbella City Council chose to mark Europe Day not merely with ceremony, but with gratitude, hosting an institutional event at the historic Hospital Real de la Misericordia to formally recognise the individuals and organisations that have helped shape the city’s social, economic, educational, and cultural fabric.

The event brought together Mayor Ángeles Muñoz, members of the accredited consular corps in Málaga, and municipal representatives for an occasion with a clear purpose: to say thank you. The atmosphere was warm and genuinely felt. A room full of people who had each, in their own way, chosen Marbella long before Marbella chose to thank them back. Many of the honourees have called the city home for more than fifteen years, arriving as outsiders and staying to become part of its fabric. Receiving recognition from the city they had quietly invested in, not just financially, but personally, was, for many of them, clearly meaningful.

Honourees were selected for their tangible contribution to the municipality, not simply for their prominence, but for what they have actively given back to the place they call home.

Mayor Muñoz framed the occasion in terms that will resonate with anyone who has chosen to build a life here. She described Marbella as a city that “represents the European spirit in a living, everyday, and authentic way”, and underlined that its cosmopolitan character, far from being a challenge to manage, has become one of its defining strengths. Europe, she noted, is not simply a territory; it is “a coexistence project built on peace, cooperation, solidarity, and respect.”

Among the honourees stood names that reflect the breadth of Marbella’s international community:

• Smadar Kahana, Managing Director of Engel & Völkers Marbella
• The Dalli family, linked to Tony Dalli restaurant and Dalli’s Pasta Factory
• Mike Drury, of Aloha College Marbella and Marbella Study Centre
• Evelyn Ramelet
• Günther Kreis, of Club de Leones Marbella Lengua Alemana
• John Walsh, of Sagesa
• Raúl Koolen and Xander Brakman, of restaurant El Vecino
• Stefan Tjellander, of Holiday Golf Group
• Guy F. McCrow, of The Beach House Marbella

Each of these figures represents a different dimension of what makes Marbella thrive: education, hospitality, sport, gastronomy, community. Together, they paint a picture of a city whose success is genuinely shared and whose international community has become its greatest asset.

For those of us at Engel & Völkers Marbella, the recognition of Smadar Kahana carries particular significance, though it comes as no surprise to anyone who knows her approach.

Smadar has always been clear about what she does. “I don’t sell just houses,” she says. “I sell a lifestyle. I sell Marbella.” It is a distinction that sounds simple but speaks to something fundamental: the difference between a transaction and a conviction. Every client conversation, every market insight, every introduction to a neighbourhood, a restaurant, or a school has been in service of that broader offer, the city itself, with all it represents.

As Managing Director of one of the Costa del Sol’s most respected real estate networks, Smadar has spent years actively contributing to Marbella’s international profile, bringing buyers, investors, and families from across the world to a place she believes in with evident sincerity. Her recognition at this Europe Day event is a reflection of what Engel & Völkers Marbella has always stood for: a long-term commitment to this city, to the people who choose it, and to the relationships that make a community, not merely a market.

The Europe Day event is, in many ways, a mirror of the broader story playing out in Marbella’s property market. The buyers we work with at Engel & Völkers are not simply purchasing square metres; they are choosing a way of life, a community, and increasingly, a long-term home. Many of the honourees at this event began exactly that way: as international arrivals who found in Marbella something worth staying for, and worth investing in.

The numbers bear this out. According to the latest data from the Consejo General del Notariado (March 2025–February 2026), over 61% of property purchases across Marbella municipality were made by foreign buyers — a figure that speaks not just to the city’s appeal, but to the depth of its international roots. In the Golden Mile, that international demand translates into an average price of 5,579 €/m², with transaction values averaging over one million euros. These are not holiday purchases. They are life decisions.

Fausto Martínez, Consul of Latvia and Vice-Dean of the consular corps in Málaga, articulated it well: “diversity enriches us and solidarity unites us in the face of common challenges.” It is a sentiment that could equally describe the philosophy behind every property search we undertake — the belief that finding the right home is about far more than location or specification. It is about belonging.

With residents from over 150 countries and prices across the municipality rising 7.67% in 2025 alone, Marbella is not cosmopolitan by aspiration: it simply is. The city’s schools teach in multiple languages. Its restaurants span every culinary tradition. Its business community operates across borders with ease. And its real estate market reflects all of this: an internationally minded buyer base drawing from the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and well beyond, and a lifestyle offer that consistently outperforms expectation.

Events like this one where the city pauses to say thank you to the people who have made it what it is, are a reminder of why Marbella endures as one of Europe’s most sought-after destinations. Not because of any single landmark or statistic, but because of the community that has grown here over decades.

At Engel & Völkers Marbella, we are proud to be part of that story.

Market data: Portal Estadístico del Notariado, report dated 12/05/2026. Figures cover the period March 2025–February 2026.