San Pedro de Alcántara (St. Peter of Alcántara) (pop: approx 26,500) lies on the main Costa del Sol coastal road the N340/A7 as well as the new toll motorway the AP7, 10 km west of Marbella in Andalucia, Southern Spain. It is easily accessed from either Málaga or Cádiz and via the C339 from Sevilla and Ronda. The nearest airports of Málaga and Gibraltar are both within an hour's drive. It is situated in the fertile plain of the same name, Vega de San Pedro Alcántara, a broad stretch of coastal lowland surrounded in a semicircle by rugged hills. On the East the Sierra Blanca of Marbella, dominated by its highest peak Pico del Astonar (1.270 m.) better known locally as "La Concha" (The Shell) because of its resemblance to a fluted sea shell when viewed from the west.