AREA: 26,60 km² ALTITUDE ABOVE SEA LEVEL: 241 metres AVERAGE ANNUAL RAINFALL: 610 l/m²
AVERAGE ANNUAL TEMPERATURE: 17’8 ºC POPULATION, CENSUS 1994: 24,706

History and Landscape

Without having to leave the city, you can go from Torremolinos to the Benalmadena coast, and from the coast to the mountain, through a landscape of hills speckled with urbanizations, which have the sierra and Benalmadena town as a background to this mountainous, urban and marine scenery. This town, which is at 241 metres altitude above sea level at only 2 kilometres from the coast, is converted at the sides in a large balcony overlooking the mediterranean. A balcony which extends from east to west of the municipality by the modern highway which encircles it. The new road offers the visitor an ample range of excellent views, not only panoramas over the coast, but also towards corners of the sierra which up to now, little is known of.

The coastal situation of these lands has favoured man’s presence since ancient times, according to the evidence of a series of archaeological findings in the Zomera, Botijos, Shara and Toro, or Calamoro caves. There are also Iberian vestiges in a town which was discovered in Cerro Capellanías, as well as Phoenician and Roman findings, who possibly started to exploit the mining resources in the area. The presence of the Romans must have been relatively important, judging by the archaeological remains found, among which there is a mosaic which is now in the museum of the Alcazaba de Malaga, and the foundations of which could have been a city. Pieces of amphoras have also been found, as well as sculpted glass objects, baker’s stamps and different fishing tools which are exhibited in the town’s municipal museum.

But, in spite of all this history, it would be in the Arab era that this enclave acquired importance due to its richness in mining. A mining past from which the town took its name, Benalmadena, which means - sons of the mines.

After the Christians conquered its castle, the town was destroyed and its inhabitants dispersed, until it was repopulated by old Christians from the Gaudalquivir valley in 1491. From then on, the area was integrated into the coastal defense system, fortified by the watchtowers of Torre Muelle, Torre Quebrada and Torre Bermeja.

The illustrious Arab apothecary, Ibn Al Bethar, was born here. He lived between the 12th and 13th century, becoming the doctor of Saladino, distinguished apothecary and essayist.

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Places to Visit

From the three nuclei which form Benalmádena, the coastal area, the intermediate Arroyo de la Miel, and the village raised on the slope of the mountainous cornice close to the coast, it is the latter which offers the same physiognomy as the rest of the white villages and also shelters the only monumental pieces: the church of Santo Domingo, which dates from the 17th century but which was reformed in 1960, to such an extent that it disfigured the primitive building, and the archaeological pre-Columbian museum which was donated by the mexican archaeologist and painter, Felipe Orlando. This museum has a collection of over 400 pre-Columbian pieces and over 60 neolithical pieces of Orlando’s collection and includes valuable samples of various cultures from Mexico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and other Latin American countries.

Walking through the old part of the town is a pleasure due to the urban configuration, but above all on contemplating, from the gardens of the wall, the vast panorama of the slopes and coastal line from this lookout. Descending from the town towards the coast, the castle of Alíjares appears between trees and well-kept urbanizations. From this castle, which is very singular and has recently been built, one can see diverse species of predatory birds in action. In Arroyo de la Miel, there is a fairground, Tivoli World. This is the only one of its kind of the Costa del Sol for more than two decades and its gardens are unique in size and with species of diverse origins. On the coast, as well as the Casino Torrequebrada, one of the two towers on the coast, and the Fortuna dance hall as an exclusive offer of fun, there is the marina complex with a high quality residential and touristic development, and in the last few years has become a place of cultivated gastronomy and night life with a certain prestige. In this same place, they are about to inaugurate the "Sea Life" which will be the first submarine park of the Costa del Sol.

Along the coast there are three watchtower - Torre Bermeja, Torre Quebrada and Torre Muelle - which have given way to important urbanizations, as in the case of the complex formed by the golf courses of Torrequebrada and Torremuelle.

Benalmadena also has a large number of caves, eight in total, some of them with notable archaeological sites of which the names are cited in the corresponding text in the History and Landscape section.

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Shopping

Benalmadena has many craftmanships. The most appreciated are the works in decorative and designed ceramics, iron forging, laquered metals, fibres and textiles, etcetera.

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Gastronomy

The authoctonous cooking, apart from the usual and international creations on offer everywhere in the three nuclei, consists of dishes such as a spicy casserole, breadcrumbs with milk, and above all, the fried fish.

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Festivities and traditions

In the spring, there is the Corpus Christi procession, which has a special relevance and magnificence, with the natural flower carpet laid down in its pathway, and the small altars and decorated balconies. The wake of the Carmen and the marine procession of the Virgin on the 16th of July is one of the large festivities, as is the Easter festivity of stage playing the Passion where, for one day, the people of the town become actors in the mysteries of the passion and death of Jesus Christ. The popular festivities take place on the 15th of August and are dedicated to San Juan in Arroyo de la Miel.