Caricaturists Return to Marbella's Seafront Promenade After Two Seasons Banned

Caricaturists are once again sketching residents and visitors this summer along Marbella's seafront promenade, one of the town's biggest tourist draws, after two seasons banned from the area since the city council refused to grant them permits.

The council is bringing the tradition back in the last summer before municipal elections scheduled for May 2027, restoring to the seafront an image that has been tied to Marbella's tourism and cultural life for decades.

Artists Celebrate Their Return After a 2025 Push for Change

"We hope this new chapter lasts, and that it lets us keep drawing smiles in Marbella for years to come," says Daniel Segarra, one of the artists who led the 2025 push for the council to renew the permits.

"Marbella is getting back a familiar sight that brings color, entertainment, and life to the seafront promenade. This is live art, done face-to-face and by human hands, and in the age of artificial intelligence, it keeps alive the irreplaceable value of gesture, observation, and an artist's talent," he adds.

Jorge Ganderatz, one of the most iconic caricaturists in Marbella and Puerto Banús — he started drawing in the town back in 1986 — is also picking his pencils back up and setting his easel by the sea once again. "Street caricature is also a tourist and cultural draw, part of the city's personality," he explains.

Among the caricaturists working in Marbella are some who have done work for the Champions League or for major international companies.

The Roots of the Dispute: Denied Permits and an Expelled Caricaturist

"We're constantly traveling to Barcelona or Madrid for work, and we pay self-employment contributions twelve months a year just to keep doing our art," Segarra said during the months he spent asking the council to renew the permits. That request from the group of artists came after a local police officer removed a caricaturist from the promenade spot where he had been working for more than ten years.

The artists called it "unfair" that the council wouldn't renew the licenses needed for a line of work "that doesn't create noise or bother residents, and that's widely embraced by both locals and tourists." The Spanish Association of Caricaturists also asked the council to renew the licenses and let the artists continue their work along the seafront promenade.

Source: La Opinión de Málaga