Torremolinos has thankfully long outgrown its Monty Python spam and chips image and, over recent years, has evolved as an attractive and appealing resort noted for its clean sandy beaches, wide choice of hotels and restaurants and unparalleled variety of entertainment, activities and nightlife available. Torremolinos is located 7km west of Málaga airport and was the first Costa del Sol resort to be developed back in the early sixties when it was little more than a sleepy village, still today the town reflects its heritage with several of the original fresh fish bars located right in the shopping centre, incongruously flanked by exclusive boutiques and gift shops. In general, however, the wave of tourists who descended on the town in the fifties and sixties changed the face of Torremolinos for ever.Over the years, Torremolinos has evolved as an attractive and appealing resort, noted for its clean sandy beaches, wide choice of hotels and restaurants and unparalleled variety of entertainment, activities and nightlife available. At the height of summer, the resort has a great appeal for the younger set, with a reputation for its hectic nightlife. Out of season, however, it takes on a different character. Now practically a suburb of Málaga, the atmosphere is much more Spanish, especially at weekends, with an air of friendliness and welcome.
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Nerja is on the seashore some 50 kilometres from Málaga on the N340 coastal highway, and marks the eastern tip of Málaga's Costa del Sol. Once a sleepy fishing village, the town now has a population of over 12,000. Nerja boasts 16 kilometres of beaches with powdery sand and sparkling clear water. All major water sports are available here, including water skiing, scuba diving and sailing. Flanked by a dramatic mountain range, Sierra Almijara, to the east, the town has, fortunately, managed to avoid being blighted by the concrete high-rise scenario which has been the inevitable result of the tourist boom in some of the coastal resorts. The old quarter of the town is still virtually unchanged with narrow, winding streets, whitewashed houses with wrought iron terraces overflowing with geraniums, on which a canary can sometimes be heard singing... However, the heart of Nerja is its spectacular Balcón de Europa, the 'Balcony of Europe', a magnificent promenade along the edge of a towering cliff, once the site of the great Moorish castle, with sweeping panoramic views of the Mediterranean and the small coves and beaches below, against an awesome backdrop of hazy blue mountains.
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Fuengirola is just twenty minutes from Malaga airport, while the local train station provides easy access to such popular nearby resorts as Torreblanca, Arroyo de la Miel and Torremolinos.Fuengirola is probably most famous for its five miles of sandy beaches, flanked by high-rise hotels and residential blocks of apartments with magnificent views of the Mediterranean and sweeping coastline . A recent landscaping drive by the local municipality has resulted in a wider promenade and plenty of palm trees, interspersed with colourful flower beds and additional seating.The beaches known as Boliches - Gaviotas and Torreblanca hold a European blue flag. Fuengirola is particularly popular with Spanish nationals, many of whom own summer apartments here. There are also a considerable percentage of British and other nationalities with the result being an impressively wide variety of entertainment and restaurant choice, ranging from the Andalusian traditional tapas (bar snacks) and shellfish dishes to the British bangers and beans standard, together with Guinness on tap. The advantage of staying here is that it is a compact seaside resort and town which has an excellent selection of supermarkets and competitively priced shops, as opposed to being restricted to the typical gift shop strip with its imported shells and t-shirts.
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There's more to the great conurbation of Benalmadena sprawling midway between Malaga and Torremolinos than first meets the eye. The municipality is divided into three distinct parts, Benalmadena Pueblo, Benalmadena Costa and Arroyo de la Miel. It's where actor Antonio Banderas comes from, and he and Melanie Griffith often visit Benalmadena's attractive marina. Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Visigoths and Arabs all passed left their mark on the area, the Romans and Moors in particular having a noticeable effect on its architecture. The Catholic Kings, Ferdinand and Isabel, also established a defence base there.The original heart of Benalmadena remains as a typical Andaluz village in the foothills of the mountains which sweep down to the shore. It covers an area of 26,58 sq. km. and has an average height of 280 metres above sea level. The narrow, flower-filled streets hold plenty of traces of the former civilisations which used to exist in the area. This picturesque village and its coastline are eminently suitable for tourism, with a population of over 60,000 people at the height of the season.
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