As Michelle Obama sits on the stone terrace of her five star Andalusian hotel this week, with sweeping views across the lush golf course to the Mediterranean Sea below, the stress of Washington will seem a long way away.
Swallows ride the breezes above fluttering golf flags, and the sound of cicadas in the hot afternoon mingles with soft jazz music in the background.
Yet despite the sophistication and elegance of the Villa Padierna, where Mrs Obama will arrive with her nine-year-old daughter Sasha on Wednesday, Marbella's reputation does not make it an obvious destination for the First Lady.
Indeed, her decision to holiday on the Costa del Sol has been met with bemusement by some, who associate Marbella more with reality television stars, gangsters, corrupt politicians and wannabe WAGs than with the genuinely chic and classy Mrs Obama
