Roy Boston: A singer who coined the term 'Golden Mile'

Roy Boston is a name that has been linked to Marbella since the early 1970s, although not many people know much about him, or why there is a street named in his honour in the Alhambra del Mar residential park. His real name was Rudolf Friedrich Witsch, a German singer, composer and producer who changed his name when embarking on his musical career. He enjoyed considerable solo success during the late 1960s and '70s, releasing a string of hits, including España Olé in 1973: he also enjoyed success with The Boston Soul Sound Orquestra and Voices, and with several projects as a music producer.

However, it was not his musical talents that prompted Marbella town hall to inaugurate Calle Roy Boston shortly after his death in Munich in 1991. Boston, who retired from the music business to concentrate on property development, fell in love with Marbella and became a regular member of the high-profile circles that turned the town into the playground of the world's rich and famous. It was because of this transformation of Marbella (in which he played a role) in the late 1950s and '60s, when palatial homes, five-star hotels and private clubs began to sprout up, that Boston coined the term 'The Golden Mile' to describe the area's high-status and illustrious residents.

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He also contributed to Marbella's glamorous nightlife, when, in 1972, he opened the celebrated nightclub, Kiss, along with his business partner Don Jaime de Mora y Aragon, a Spanish actor, singer and pianist who was also an active member of the town's celebrity set. Don Jaime was the brother of Fabiola, the Queen of Belgium, and he is also honoured in Marbella with a statue and a street due to the fact that, along with his contribution to the town's nightlife (he also opened in Marbella the Fuentes del Rodeo club), he was the head of the tourism at Marbella town hall until he died in 1995.