What it is
The mosque was commissioned by Prince Salman in honour of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, a regular visitor to Marbella, and it stands on the Golden Mile. The architect was Juan Mora.
Its design is contemporary Andalusian architecture drawing on Islamic forms — white walls, a slender minaret, and gardens around it. The complex holds more than eight hundred worshippers and includes a library and a residence for the imam.
Visiting
⚠️ It is a place of worship first. Whether visitors are admitted, and when, is the mosque's decision; ask rather than assume, and dress modestly.
The minaret and the gardens can be seen from outside, and that is what most visitors do.
Why it is here
⭐ The mosque is part of the story of the Golden Mile itself — the stretch of coast where, from the 1950s onward, aristocrats, film stars and royal families built their summer houses, and where the resort began.
One of the first new mosques in Spain
The mosque was completed in 1981, which makes it one of the first mosques built in Spain in modern times. It is named after King Abdulaziz, the first monarch of Saudi Arabia, and it was paid for by the Saudi government, as were the mosques of Fuengirola and Málaga; like them it follows the Salafi current that is dominant in Saudi Arabia. The architect, Juan Mora, came from Córdoba, and the building is an example of contemporary architecture inspired by Andalusian and Arab traditions.
Why here
In the 1970s Fahd and his brother Salman, then governor of Riyadh, began to spend long periods on the Costa del Sol. On their first visit they booked 32 rooms at the Hotel Incosol for their entourage, and a couple of years later they began building five palaces on the Golden Mile, among them the Mar-Mar palace. The mosque followed in 1981, built by the two brothers. Since then the Saudi royal family and the other Gulf royal families have kept coming to Marbella for long seasons, which is why a mosque of this size stands beside the main road between the town and Puerto Banús.
Sources
- King Abdul Aziz Mosque — Wikipedia
- Mezquita del Rey Abdelaziz — Wikipedia (es)
- Puerto Banús — Wikipedia (es)
- Marbella — Wikipedia (es)
