Location
Since its construction, the Pez Espada Hotel has been an emblem of the tourist leadership of the Costa del Sol since the mid-20th Century. Built by the architects Manuel Muñoz Monasterio and Juan Jáuregui Briales at the end of the 1950s, its architecture represents a milestone in the so-called “relaxation style”. Its main floor was designed by the French decorator Jean Pierre Françoise and the entire hotel was declared a Site of Cultural Interest in 2006. Inaugurated on May 31st 1959 as a five-star establishment, since its beginning it has had renowned clients from the world of cinema and entertainment such as Rita Hayworth, Ava Gardner, Mary Pickford, Ingrid Bergman, Sofía Loren, Carlo Ponti, Kim Novak, Orson Welles, Boris Karloff, Raf Vallone, Peter Ustinov, Anthony Quinn, Trevor Howard, Claudia Cardinale, Raquel Welch, Brigitte Bardot and, of course, Frank Sinatra.
Filmed here
The ‘Pez Espada’ was a cinema hotel. But there were more movie stars than shootings on its premises. However, this temple of relaxation hosted one of the most controversial film events in history with Frank Sinatra as the guest star. While filming in ‘El Chorro’ the war movie ‘ Von Ryan’s Express’, the actor and singer starred in another warlike episode in the hotel with a scandal that went around the world when an aspiring actress and a photographer tried to have their picture taken with the Hollywood star. The couple reported the actor for assault and the police went to the hotel to take statement from ‘La Voz’, but the artist refused and ended up hitting his bones at the Malaga police station, where he was fined for contempt of authority. The actor had to pay a fine of 25,000 pesetas (150 euros at current exchange rates) and the memory of that controversial visit is kept in the hotel’s Frankie’s Café, where it is essential to have a cocktail or coffee in memory of Sinatra.
