Some years ago spent two weeks Costa del Sol in May. Good time, still not warm enough for most European vacationers, so it wasn't crowded. One excellent tip we learned from that trip was to ask the flight attendants about their favorite eating places. They have multi-day layovers and are pretty much up on best eating. I remember one called Charlie's in Torremolinos that was outstanding and reasonable. Charlie was an ex-pat from US. He knew wonderful things to do to great steaks that we had never tasted before, and the paella was top-notch.

Also, if you get to Ronda (a really interesting place not far from the coast, the Hotel Polo was accomodating enough to open the restaurant for us. It was siesta time. No one else ever came in, so we had a private restaurant, meals cooked tableside (incredible food, several different local wines with changing courses and Bananas Foster, and the bill was so low for four we felt it had to be an error.

I'll be in Marbella for a week in May and then a week on Majorca, so I will have a chance to see how much it has changed. Good luck with your travels. If any one has suggestions for restaurants in Marbella area, I would love to hear from you.

Lou