The 2016 Ryder Cup star entered the final day with a two shot lead but had lost it by the second tee and was two behind Arnaus at the turn after a battling front nine.
A hat-trick of birdies from the 13th had him back in a share of the lead at 19 under and he produced a stunning up-and-down from the sand on the last after a ragged tee shot to save his par and take the contest to extra holes after a 69.
Both men sent their tee shots left on the first trip back up the 18th but Cabrera Bello had the better lie and put his approach to 11 feet to seal a birdie and a fourth European Tour title.
Arnaus carded a closing 67 but was left to reflect on a fourth runner up finish in 72 European Tour starts.
Scot Grant Forrest came home in 28 to finish two shots out of the play-off at 17 under alongside Frenchman Julien Guerrier and India’s Shubhankar Sharma.
Dutchman Wil Besseling, South African Wilco Nienaber and England’s Jack Senior were at 16 under, a shot clear of England’s Richard Bland, Italian Renato Paratore and Scot Marc Warren.
Player Quotes
Rafa Cabrera Bello: “I’m very, very happy. I knew it was going to be a really hard battle today and I don’t think I need to say that I didn’t get off to the ideal start.
“I’ve been believing in myself, I’ve had amazing support all this week rooting for me ever since the first minute and I was just hanging in there, I knew I’d have an opportunity and I’m glad that luck swung my way.
“I love this city since I came here for the first time but the last couple of years I’ve felt a really, really special connection with the crowd and the support has helped me a lot.
“I came here in probably the worst shape I have been in in the last decade, close to say, and to walk out here with a win, it’s very special.
“It was definitely one trophy that was on my bucket list. To join my name to all those champions – Alvaro (Quiros) as well that I can think of – it’s very, very special.
“I’ve always dreamed about holding this trophy. This week I’ve trusted myself again, I found a way to believe in myself and I had the amazing support of the crowd that was rooting for me and that really helped me keep going.
Final Scores
265 R CABRERA BELLO (ESP) 67 65 64 69, A ARNAUS (ESP) 67 64 67 67,
267 G FORREST (SCO) 65 67 70 65, S SHARMA (IND) 67 64 70 66, J GUERRIER (FRA) 66 66 66 69,
268 W NIENABER (RSA) 71 65 68 64, W BESSELING (NED) 64 65 72 67, J SENIOR (ENG) 67 67 65 69,
269 R PARATORE (ITA) 67 70 67 65, M WARREN (SCO) 66 67 69 67, R BLAND (ENG) 69 68 64 68,
270 F ZANOTTI (PAR) 69 66 70 65, V DUBUISSON (FRA) 67 68 69 66, B WIESBERGER (AUT) 70 67 67 66, L BJERREGAARD (DEN) 66 68 68 68, A LEVY (FRA) 72 64 65 69,
271 M LORENZO-VERA (FRA) 67 69 68 67, A OTAEGUI (ESP) 68 70 65 68, J RAHM (ESP) 63 67 72 69,
272 J SMITH (ENG) 66 71 68 67, M KORHONEN (FIN) 69 66 69 68, A MERONK (POL) 69 68 67 68, P LARRAZ?BAL (ESP) 67 66 70 69,
273 J MURPHY (IRL) 68 68 69 68, A JOHNSTON (ENG) 70 68 67 68, J JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 67 67 70 69, J HANSEN (DEN) 68 66 70 69, G COETZEE (RSA) 69 69 66 69, S TARRIO (ESP) 66 68 69 70, J DONALDSON (WAL) 64 70 69 70, R FOX (NZL) 65 71 67 70, R MCGOWAN (ENG) 61 70 71 71, M JORDAN (ENG) 68 65 69 71,
274 C SYME (SCO) 67 69 73 65, J PASTOR (ESP) 71 66 70 67, K SAMOOJA (FIN) 67 72 68 67, D PUIG (AM) (ESP) 68 67 69 70, D DRYSDALE (SCO) 64 70 68 72,
275 F LAPORTA (ITA) 67 71 70 67, M LEE (AUS) 67 69 70 69, J LAGERGREN (SWE) 65 69 71 70, J GONNET (FRA) 68 68 68 71, E MOLINARI (ITA) 67 70 67 71, A QUIROS (ESP) 71 67 66 71,
276 R RAMSAY (SCO) 69 69 72 66, D LAW (SCO) 70 69 71 66, D COUPLAND (ENG) 68 69 71 68, M ARMITAGE (ENG) 69 68 71 68, G FDEZ-CASTA?O (ESP) 68 68 71 69, C HILL (SCO) 70 68 69 69, J CAMPILLO (ESP) 67 70 68 71, S JAMIESON (SCO) 66 68 70 72,
277 A SULLIVAN (ENG) 67 70 72 68, S KJELDSEN (DEN) 69 69 71 68, L DONALD (ENG) 69 70 69 69,
278 J WALTERS (RSA) 71 68 71 68, A ROZNER (FRA) 67 72 71 68, N LEMKE (SWE) 68 69 72 69, Z LOMBARD (RSA) 72 67 70 69, J SCRIVENER (AUS) 71 68 70 69, S BROWN (ENG) 68 68 72 70, T AIKEN (RSA) 69 68 71 70, L GAGLI (ITA) 70 69 69 70, G STORM (ENG) 71 67 69 71,
279 R SCIOT-SIEGRIST (FRA) 65 73 72 69, A CHESTERS (ENG) 71 66 72 70, A COCKERILL (CAN) 66 69 73 71,
281 H LI (CHN) 68 71 72 70, D VAN DRIEL (NED) 67 71 71 72, N BERTASIO (ITA) 67 71 70 73,
282 S GARCIA RODRIGUEZ (ESP) 62 73 76 71, D HORSEY (ENG) 66 70 75 71, D FICHARDT (RSA) 70 66 75 71, M KIEFFER (GER) 71 68 72 71,
283 O FARR (WAL) 72 67 71 73,
*
212 C PAISLEY (ENG) 70 69 73, R FISHER (ENG) 69 70 73, N H?JGAARD (DEN) 73 66 73,
214 A WU (CHN) 66 73 75, D GAVINS (ENG) 69 68 77,
*
140 J WINTHER (DEN) 72 68, J STALTER (FRA) 70 70, D WHITNELL (ENG) 69 71, G GREEN (MAS) 70 70, R LANGASQUE (FRA) 66 74, E PEPPERELL (ENG) 70 70, M PAVON (FRA) 68 72, T PULKKANEN (FIN) 69 71, J MORRISON (ENG) 72 68, A CA?IZARES (ESP) 69 71,
141 S V?LIM?KI (FIN) 70 71, R JACQUELIN (FRA) 69 72, J CALDWELL (NIR) 73 68, O WILSON (ENG) 73 68,
142 M KAWAMURA (JPN) 71 71, J HARDING (RSA) 75 67, S DEL VAL (ESP) 71 71, N ELVIRA (ESP) 70 72, J CATLIN (USA) 70 72, G PORTEOUS (ENG) 70 72, B HEBERT (FRA) 73 69, S CROCKER (USA) 70 72, S HEND (AUS) 73 69, M SCHMID (GER) 69 73, S KIM (USA) 70 72, H PORTEOUS (RSA) 71 71,
143 R ROUSSEL (FRA) 70 73, R SANTOS (POR) 70 73, M SOUTHGATE (ENG) 75 68, G MIGLIOZZI (ITA) 74 69, K BROBERG (SWE) 73 70, J SURI (USA) 73 70, J MOSCATEL (AM) (ESP) 71 72,
144 O FISHER (ENG) 72 72, S SODERBERG (SWE) 72 72, V PEREZ (FRA) 71 73, R KARLBERG (SWE) 72 72, D VAN TONDER (RSA) 71 73, G BHULLAR (IND) 75 69,
145 C SHARVIN (NIR) 75 70, P ANGLES (ESP) 75 70, R MCEVOY (ENG) 74 71,
146 M KINHULT (SWE) 74 72, E DE LA RIVA (ESP) 74 72, T OLESEN (DEN) 70 76,
147 C SANCHEZ MOLINA (ESP) 73 74, M ANTCLIFF (AUS) 74 73, D HOWELL (ENG) 74 73,
148 A PAVAN (ITA) 77 71,
151 A BUENDIA (ESP) 77 74,
152 G BRIXI (CZE) 74 78,
