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Malaga serves as a hub to reach other communities
throughout the Costa del Sol, stretching from Nerja to
Gibraltar.
This
vibrant part of Andalucía is popular for its sandy
beaches, bustling resorts, historical towns and beautiful Mediterranean
climate.
We had previously visited this area, and were
happy to stay again for longer and to visit even
more communities. See also
Spain and Portugal: Andalucia and
Spain and Portugal: Gibraltar.
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Torremolinos, now a popular tourist
resort area only 7 kilometers from Malaga airport, was a
poor fishing village until the 1960s.
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The
Torremolinos beachfront extends to the old fishing village
of La Carihuela, an area of picturesque simple houses and
bougainvillea-clad patios.
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A long seafront promenade, Paseo Maritimo, extends east to Playamar and
west to La
Carihuela,
continuing as far as Benalmádena Marina, where the Castillo
Bil-Bil serves as a cultural centre.
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Benalmadena has a delightful butterfly garden, and a nearby
Buddhist stupa. It also has an impressive museum of precolombian
artifacts.
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Fuengirola is typical of the coastal
resort towns, where long
promenades line the beachfront, featuring shops, cafes, gardens and
public artworks.
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Beachfront barbeques specialize in "espeto", sardine skewers
grilled over an open fire.
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Marbella is known for
its La Fontanilla Beach, and for its historic quarter of
white-washed buildings, remains of Roman and Moorish
settlements and orange groves.
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West of Marbella town,
the Golden Mile of prestigious nightclubs and coastal
estates leads to Puerto Banús
marina, filled with luxury yachts and surrounded by upmarket
boutiques and bars.
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Nerja's seafront promenade, Balcon de
Europa, tops a promontory with views of the Mediterranean and
surrounding mountains. Below it lie sandy beaches and cliffside
coves.
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The Nerja Caverns are a series of caves, extending for 5
kilometers, which feature unusual stalactites and stalagmites, grottoes and
paleolithic petroglyphs.
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Marbella |
Frijiliana |
Estepona |
The
white-washed villages of Andalucia along the coast and in the
surrounding Sierra Blanca mountains are easily reached by car,
train or bus. They are a delight to wander and people-watch.
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Ronda is a mountaintop
town 100 kilometers west of Malaga. It is known for its
dramatic setting and its Cuenca Gardens, Modragon Palace,
Arab baths, Bullfighting Ring and Plaza Duquesa de Parcent.
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Puente Nuevo is a
stone bridge that spans the El Tajo gorge which separates
Ronda's old Moorish town from its newer (15th century) El
Mercadillo town.
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Gibraltar is a
headland on Spain's southern coast which was settled by the
Moors in the Middle Ages, later ruled by Spain, and ceded to
the British in 1713.
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A cable-car takes passengers above the botanical garden to the
peak of the famous Rock of Gibraltar.
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A colony of barbary apes makes itself at home
at the visitors' center at the peak, from where vast views
of Spain and Morocco are seen.
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The streets of Gibraltar bring a taste of Britain to the south
of Spain.
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