Estômbar is mainly as a bedroom community for Portimão, and many of its residents travel daily across the Rio Arade to work in the neighboring municipality.

Sanabus (or "Shombos"),[3] its name at the time of the Arab occupation, constituted an important inland center with a castle called Abenabace,[4] captured by the troops of King Sancho I in 1191.

[5] A number of important figures have called Estômbar their home over time, such as the poet Ibn Ammar,[6] and the notorious bandit hero, Remexido, as well as members of the nobility and the clergy.

Because of its favorable position (up to the late 20th century it included the present freguesias of Ferragudo and Parchal along the Rio Arade), Estômbar was formerly a very prosperous economic center.

Although based mainly on an agricultural economy, it also gained importance and wealth with the development of the salt industry and of trade on the Rio Arade.