The Kempinski Hotels chain, one of the oldest in Europe, is among the most prestigious luxury hotels in the world. On its centenary they wanted to join their brand to that of the Costa del Sol and in 1999 opened their first – and only – establishment in our country, the Kempinski Hotel Bahía España, in Estepona. Located on the beachfront, the firm wanted an iconic hotel and did not look very far, as it chose the creator of Marbella’s holiday style, the South American architect Melvin Villarroel, for this great building which inaugurated the second generation of this author’s urban development work, characterized by its integration with nature and the architecture of the emptiness – occupation of only 30% of the land. The Spanish Kempinski has a green space of 40,000 m2 of native and subtropical gardens.