A great amount of this money is ending up invested in real estate. Despite recent price increases, driving prices now beyond the peak levels of 1989, Marbella remains virtually alone in mainland Spain in the quality sector of the second home and residential tourism market, and prices are still well below those of France's C te d'Azur . This, along with the Show Business of Gil himself, has made Marbella stand out as, probably, the first quality Resort City of the whole Mediterranean Basin. Such clients are likely to keep pushing along agents, property developers, service providers and municipal authorities to provide better quality in products and services to appease this more demanding market. There are those who will always be adverse to change, and who long for the Marbella of yesteryear, and others who are very sensitive to the possibility of overbuilding and overcrowding our city.
Nobody's perfect, however, or above criticism.
These agreements have brought essential cash to the Town Hall coffers, to pay for the hundreds of infrastructure and beautification projects that he organised over the last several years. And every time a tree is cut, the ecologists protest, notwithstanding the tens of thousands of new trees planted under Gil's continuing beautification program. Additionally, Gil's projects for high towers of apartment buildings has met with staunch resistance by what is unquestionably the majority of the residents of the town, and thanks to such resistance, and also that of the Regional Government, the project for the multi-story high rise in the middle of Marbella has been axed. He remains tremendously popular with his people, but a menace for the other political parties, for he has converted Marbella from what was a rusting, sinking ship with no Captain and with virtually no infrastructure, to an international resort city equal to none on the Mediterranean Basin, with virtually full employment. And whether or not you like Gil, Marbella owes its current prosperity, unprecedented growth and brilliant new image in large part to him and his team.