| Despite
all the negative press that has surrounded Marbella over an illegal
property scandal that was run by the former Mayor, Marbella has
one of the most unlikeliest guest to arrive at her shores. The First
Lady of the United States of America, Michelle Obama and her youngest
daughter Sasha arrived today at Malaga airport via a private US
Air Force plane with the pair and their entourage being whisked
off to the Hotel Villa Padierna in the hills above the resort town
of Marbella, a haunt for the rich and famous.
Even though this trip has been described
as “private trip” with no press conferences planed,
the mother-daughter pair who left the President Barack Obama behind
in the United Status together with the eldest daughter Malia, have
a scheduled meeting with Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia
at their summer palace on the Balearic island of Majorca.
The US First Lady will visit the
city of Granada, the former seat of Moorish rule in Spain which
is located some 180 kilometres (110 miles) north of Marbella, on
Thursday. She will take in the Alhambra fortress-palace, Spain's
most-visited tourist attraction, as well the city's cathedral and
the hilltop Albaicin quarter of narrow alleyways and small squares.
In recent days local officials
have had roads re-paved, gardens tidied up and new streets lights
installed while the hotel has flown a US flag at its entrance in
the Obama's honour.
Dozens of photographers and reporters
have staked out the entrance to the five-star hotel, where rates
for a room run from 250 euros for a room to 5,000 euros (6,500 dollars)
for a villa with 24-hour butler service and private pool and garden.
"It's an honour to have her
here," Ángeles Muñoz, a former GP turned mayor
of Marbella, told The Sunday Telegraph. "She could have taken
her holiday anywhere in the world, but she has chosen to come here."
After their trip to Spain, Michelle and Sasha will visit the Gulf
Coast of Florida before heading to the New England resort island
of Martha's Vineyards.
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