Outstanding sights: Renaissance fountain; the Colegiata de San Sebastián (Collegiate Church of Saint Sebastian); La Encarnación convent; Museo Municipal Palacio de Nájera (Municipal Museum); San José convent; Museo Conventual de las Descalzas (Convent Museum); the palace of the Marqueses de la Peña de los Enamorados; La Victoria convent; Santa Eufemia convent; church of Santiago; Belén convent; Puerta de Granada (Granada Gate); the dolmens of Menga and Viera; San Zoilo convent; Del Carmen church; the Real Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor (Royal Collegiate Church of the Great St. Mary); Arco de los Gigantes (Giants' Arch); the Alcazaba fort; Torre del Homenaje (Tower of Homage); Puerta de Málaga (Málaga Gate); La Virgen del Socorro chapel; the churches of Santa María de Jesús and San Juan Bautista; the palace of the Marqueses de las Escolanías; the Santo Domingo church; Plaza de Toros (Bullring); Museo Taurino Municipal (Municipal Bullfight Museum); the San Agustín convent; Palacio Municipal (Municipal Palace); the Nuestra Señora de los Remedios convent; Paraje Natural El Torcal (El Torcal Nature Park). Antequera is one of the towns with the most monuments in all of Andalusia. 75 per cent of the historic and cultural heritage properties of Málaga are found in this municipality.
Tourist Information: Tourism Office, 7 San Sebastián Plaza (29200). Telephone : 952 702 505; Fax : 952 702 505

The very first thing the eye beholds as you start down towards the Antequera plains by way of the N-331 (A-45) expressway is a broad meadowland like an immense tapestry of different shades of green or ochre, depending on the season of your visit. To the right, the evocative Peña de los Enamorados (Lovers' Rock) with its legend of a doomed romance; straight ahead, gentle hills hem in the meadows, and to the left, below the crest of the El Torcal massif, Christian towers and Arab walls stand out from the brilliant white of the town.

Were the space not so large, you might think what you see is an ingenious artistic illusion. Even at that, this dazzlingly panoramic initial view does not reveal the treasure of monumental sites contained in Antequera, where every corner reverberates with a thousand-year-old Mediterranean culture forged by all the western civilisations.

The first settlers in this region left archaeological testimony of immense importance: the dolmens of Viera, Menga and Romeral, gigantic burial structures erected in the Bronze Age.
Although there is no precise data on the subject, it is believed that from this date forward these lands were always populated, among other reasons because its geographic location –in the territorial centre of Andalusia- is the natural crossroads between upper and lower Andalusia, making it possible for Iberians, Tartessians, Phoenicians and Carthaginians to pass through and settle here. Traces of the latter, in fact, have been found at Cerro León, where it seems that the battle between Hasdrubal's Carthaginians and the Roman legions took place.

The city owes its present name to the Romans. It derives from the ancient Antikaria, a name that would be retained by the Arabs who, under the command of Abdelaziz Ben Muza, conquered it in the eighth century. Many traces of the Roman era remain, both in Antequera proper and in the nearby towns of Arastepi and Singilia Barba, which are considered among the most important of Roman Málaga.
Bathhouses, villas, sculptures, ceramics, mosaics, and column shafts and capitals from the Roman period have been turning up throughout the Antequera area in recent years as clear proof of its ancient splendour.

The Arabs extended and strengthened the town, building the Alcazaba fort and surrounding the Medina with a wall. It became a strategic point after the capture of Seville and Jaén by the Christian troops who, under the command of the Infante (Crown Prince) Don Fernando, finally entered Antequera in 1410.

After being granted several royal favours, Antequera began to experience growth that would arrive at its peak in the second half of the sixteenth century and that in some ways was maintained until the eighteenth. During this long interval, the town was enriched with an extraordinary artistic heritage –primarily churches and convents but also outstanding secular structures- that is responsible for the present appearance of its historic urban centre.

An epidemic of yellow fever and the Napoleonic invasion decimated the town at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when it was already showing signs of exhaustion, but with those bad times behind it a new and vigorous middle class appeared, supported by a thriving textile industry, that gave new life to its economy and society. This powerful industrial sector was to succumb in the twentieth century and it would not be until the last third of this century that the town, now linked by a good transportation and communications network with the rest of Andalusia, again entered a period of clear economic expansion, and it is still in full swing.

How to Get There

The quickest way from Málaga to Antequera is by the N-331 (A-45) expressway. Once you arrive at the Antequera lowlands, take the A-354, and after 2 kilometres, you will enter the urban area of Antequera.

The municipality of Benahavís stretches across the foothills of the mountain range and is shaped by three rivers, each forming its own valley. It is one of the most mountainous areas of the Western Costa del Sol, with a richly diverse landscape and some truly admirable places to visit.

It is an interior location but due to its proximity to the coast, it has of necessity been a participant in the development that has occurred there. While the village centre preserves all the character of the White Villages, large housing developments have sprung up in its environs, especially to the south, along with magnificent golf courses. It is an important detail, however, that 70 percent of the surface area of this municipality has been declared an “Environmentally Significant Mountain Complex”, a designation that protects all that territory from development excesses.

The Rivers Guadaiza, Guadalmina and Guadalmedina meander through large expanses of forest in which pines, live oaks and cork oaks predominate. The valleys of these rivers have historically been used as routes into the Ronda highlands. There is no doubt they were so used from the time of the Phoenicians until that of the Arabs as there is proof of this in different places not far from the village. These lands were therefore of significant strategic value since very ancient times.

The first nucleus of a village, however, was formed during the Arabic era. It seems to have been founded in the late eleventh century and in the shadow of the Montemayor castle. This fortress witnessed the entire history of the village, from the clashes among the Muslims themselves until their confrontations with the Christians, and much later it was also a scene of the struggle between the Spanish and French during the Napoleonic invasion in the early nineteenth century.

The castle and the village passed into the hands of the Christians when, in 1485, the Catholic Monarchs took Marbella and its surroundings, which included Benahavís and the village of Daidín. This entire territory was granted to the Count of Cifuentes in 1492 in payment for the services he had rendered to the crown of Castile. It would not be until 1572 that, with the approval of Felipe II, Benahavís became independent of Marbella.

How to Get There

To get to Benahavís from the AP-7 expressway or the old N-340, get onto the A-6205 at San Pedro de Alcántara and it will lead straight to the village.

Surface Area: 26.6 square kilometres
Population: about 43.000
What the natives are called: Benalmadenses
Monuments: the Santo Domingo church, El Muro gardens, Museo Arqueológico (Archaeological Museum), Bil-Bil and Colomares castles, Las Águilas garden, the Estupa Budista (Buddhist Stupa), watchtowers (Torrebermeja, Torrequebrada, and Torremuelle), Plaza de España, historic quarter of Benalmádena – Pueblo, and the Roman ruins at Benalmádena – Costa.
Geographical Location: in the Western Costa del Sol region, 20 kilometres from the city of Málaga and at an altitude of 280 metres. Average annual rainfall is 610 litres per square metre and the average temperature is approximately 18º C.
Tourist Information: Tourist Office, Calle Antonio Machado, 10 (29630, Benalmádena - Costa). Telephone : 952 442 494/952 441 295; Fax : 952 440 678 turismo@benalmadena.com, www.benalmadena.com

The most striking peculiarity about this municipality, which stretches from the southern foothills of the Sierra de Mijas range to the sea's edge, is that it consists of three population centres, which are now practically joined together, but which nevertheless are still well differentiated: Benalmádena Pueblo, Benalmádena Costa and Arroyo de la Miel.

The first of these is the oldest and is a typical whitewashed Andalusian village -whitewashed with exceptional care, in fact-with narrow streets and relaxing squares. Due to the elevation (almost 300 metres) of the village centre, and its proximity to the sea, it has a number of exceptional vantage points for viewing the Costa del Sol.

A large part of the population and municipal services are concentrated in Arroyo de la Miel, a subsidiary administrative district that owes its growth to the commuter railway station, and is the economic centre of the municipality. Benalmádena Costa is the most cosmopolitan section and it is here that the tourist offer of sun and beach is found: large hotels, a casino, leisure port and businesses of all kinds.

Benalmádena is one of the leading municipalities in the province of Málaga in the tourism field, due to its location, its solid hotel industry base and its extremely broad leisure offer (beaches, a leisure port, hiking and trail walking, a cable car, golf, amusement parks such as Tivoli, Selwo Marina, and Sea Life, etc.) as well as intensive cultural activities connected to plastic and scenic arts and music.

The first human settlement in this municipality occurred in the Upper Palaeolithic period, as proven by remains discovered in the El Toro, Los Botijos and Las Zorreras caves. The Phoenicians established themselves in this region between the eighth and sixth centuries B. C., and there are also remains proving this in the coastal area. The Romans came later (a salted fish trading post at Benal-Roma and ruins of villas in Torremuelle and Capellanía), but it was the Arabs who provided the origin of the municipality's name.

In fact, the present name seems to derive from the Arabic Ibn al-Madin, meaning “children of the mines” in reference to the ancient iron mines in this region. This is not the only hypothesis as to the origin of the name of the municipality, but it is the one that is most accepted by students and historians.

The Christian troops not only conquered but also destroyed the village, and with it, its castle, which offered a stubborn resistance to the Catholic Monarchs' army. In the late sixteenth century, it was repopulated by long-time Christians, who were not able to establish themselves in the region owing, mainly, to the dangers they faced from the continuous attacks from the sea. The watchtowers that still stand close to the sea date from that era.

When several paper factories began operations in the eighteenth century the region began to recover a stable population. It was to increase years later with grape cultivation, which disappeared in the early twentieth century as a result of the phylloxera (leaf louse) pest. The phenomenon of tourism, which began in Benalmádena in the 1960's, was to drive the economy forward at an unstoppable rate.

How to Get There

The locality is perfectly linked to the Costa del Sol by the Mediterráneo Expressway (AP-7; N-340), and by commuter rail also to Fuengirola, Torremolinos and the provincial capital.

Surface Area: 162 square kilometres
Population: approximately 4,000
What the natives are called: Casareños
Monuments: the former church of La Encarnación, Arabic Castle-fortress, La Encarnación church, San Sebastián hermitage, Carlos III fountain, Museo de Etnohistoria (Ethnic History Museum), Museo Casa Natal de Blas Infante (Birth House of Blas Infante Museum), Torre de la Sal (La Sal tower), Lacipo Roman ruins, Baños de Hedionda (Hedionda baths).
Geographical Location: in the Western Costa del Sol region, bordering on the Ronda highlands. The village is spread over two hills, at some 435 metres above sea level, and is 104 kilometres from the city of Málaga. The area records an annual average rainfall of 860 litres per square metre and the average temperature is 16.6º C.
Tourist Information: Town Hall, Calle Villa, 29 (29690). Telephone : 952 894 126; Fax : 952 894 017. Tourist Office. Tel: 952 895 521.

The village of Casares, only 14 kilometres from the bustling and cosmopolitan Costa del Sol, unexpectedly displays to the visitor the most authentic character of those mountain villages that have miraculously avoided an absurd and poorly understood modernity. This locality has preserved in its urban quarter an ambience of quieter times while, to the extent permitted by good taste, making those renovations to its infrastructure that modern life demands. Such balance is anything but easy, but in Casares it has been achieved and it is considered one of the most beautiful villages in Spain, as evidenced by the fact that in 1978 it was designated a Historical-Artistic Complex.

Its municipal territory stretches between the Costa del Sol, of which it is a part, the Ronda highlands and the Gibraltar plain. As a result, it shows some of the characteristics of each of those three zones, although the mountain region more influences its appearance than the other two. There are deep gorges in the direction of Sierra Bermeja, small pine woods stretching toward the peak of Los Reales (1,440 metres) and limestone heights in Crestellina, at the entrance to the Genal valley, where a majestic community resides: a colony of Griffon vultures that can easily be seen in full flight.

In the western part of the municipality the River Guadiaro, after receiving the waters of the Genal, opens up its valley to a succession of orchards and gardens that advance towards the sea among gentle hills covered by grain fields and a few grazing lands, a clear forerunner to the border landscape of Cádiz

Prehistoric man left his imprint in different places in this municipality, as, for example, the caves and shelters of Ferrete, Crestellina, Pelliscoso, the La Novia hill, Utrera and the farmstead of Alechipe (or perhaps Alepiche), where remains have also been discovered that may have belonged to the Roman city of Lacipo, which seems to have been built over an Iberian-Phoenician town. What's more, Casares came to have its own coinage during the Roman era.

It is hard to establish today just what role Casares played in Betica during the Roman period but it is obvious that it must have been of definite importance considering the archaeological remains that have been discovered, such as the aforementioned city of Lacipo.

There is also no doubt that the present urban zone is of Arabic origin, as shown by the ruins of the fortress on top of the rocky hill on which the village lies. From a comparison of Casares with other localities in Málaga it is reasonable to suppose that farm communities sprang up in the surroundings of the castle and with time came to form the village. After the taking of Ronda in 1485 it surrendered to the Christian troops and was granted as a feudal holding to Rodrigo Ponce de León, Duke of Cádiz.

The residents of Casares were not only affected by, but actively participated in. the Moorish uprising, which in this area was put down by Don Juan de Austria, and in the second half of the sixteenth century a pact was signed in this village that brought to an end one of the Moorish rebellions. In the late eighteenth century (1795) Manilva was separated from Casares and given the privileges of a villa (royal burgh), and only a few years later the population found itself caught up in the confrontations with the invading French army. Casares and Cádiz had the distinction of being the only population centres that could not be taken by the Napoleonic troops.

How to Get There

Turn off the AP-7 (N340) expressway at Manilva and take the A-377. After some ten kilometres on this road take the turning for Casares and it will be about three kilometres more.

Coín's municipal territory stretches from the considerable heights of the Alpujata range, one of the mountain masses that separate the interior of the province from the western coast, to the centre of the Guadalhorce valley region. This descent is gentle but there are strong contrasts to be seen not only in the changing contours of the earth but also in the types of crops and vegetation. Thus, while pines and cork oaks abound in the mountains, the landscape of the lower elevations is dominated by orchards and gardens, and near the River Guadalhorce broad expanses of citrus and even subtropical crops make their appearance.

It is not strange in such a country as this, with a temperate climate, favourable terrain and abundant water, since the Rivers Pereilas and Grande, tributaries of the Guadalhorce, flow through it, that the first human settlements occurred during the Paleolithic period. The site known as the “Taller” (workshop) of Ardite furnished materials for making tools during that prehistoric period, while notable Metals Age sites are Cerro Carranque and Llano de la Virgen, which has been designated a Bien de Interés Cultural (Property of Cultural Interest).

Another archaeological site, Cerro del Aljibe, furnishes proof of the passage of the Greeks, Phoenicians, Iberians and Romans through this area, and burial sites from the Visigothic era have been found at Cerro de las Calaveras. All this indicates that the municipality of Coín has been inhabited continuously since very remote times to the present day.

The actual foundation of Coín was during the Muslim era, however. According to the chronicler of Abderramán III, the former Roman settlement was fortified in the year 920 by a high-ranking personage from Córdoba named Dakwan (Coín). Dakwan would play a very important role in the campaigns of Abderramán III against the Muladí rebel Omar Ben Hafsun until 928, the year of the fall of Bobastro, Omar Ben Hafsun's general headquarters.

Three centuries later the Moroccan historian Ibn Adhari referred to Coín as Castro Dakwan (Fortress Dakwan), which has given rise to conjecture that the origin of the city's name is Roman or at least Mozaribic, especially considering the existence of a Mozarabic cave basilica near the village, which indicates the existence of a Mozarabic community that predated the arrival of the army of Abderramán III.

During the Muslim period agriculture was especially developed in this municipality and, as in other localities in Andalusia, some of the irrigation infrastructure is still preserved. In about 1480 it was a medium-sized Nazarite Kingdom city, with some 3,000 residents. It should be kept in mind that in that period Málaga had some 20,000 souls and Granada about 50,000.

The city fell into the hands of the Christian troops in 1485, a fact that is reflected in the dressed stonework of the Toledo cathedral choir room. The Catholic King immediately afterward ordered the demolition of the fortress because due to its size it was too costly to maintain a garrison in it sufficient for its defence. Two years after the Conquest the place was repopulated and the lands distributed, and from the beginning of the sixteenth century the village showed a constant increase in population. It is the opinion of some writers that Coín had the honour of receiving a visit in 1594 by Miguel de Cervantes when, the great writer had a job as tax collector for the Crown.

There were 700 orchards and market gardens in 1773, in which all kinds of fruits and vegetables were grown. The countryside produced wheat, maize, olive oil, barley, hemp, figs, honey, silk, etc. and also had 14 oil mills and 20 flour mills, in a time when the population was 1,800. Coín entered the modern age in the twentieth century with the opening of the railway (no longer in existence) that linked the locality with the city of Málaga (1913), and in 1930 Alfonso XIII granted it the status of Ciudad (City) and its Town Hall the right to the appellation of “Excellent”.

How to Get There

There are four routes to Coín from the Costa del Sol, but the one that is used the most leaves the city of Málaga by A-357 in the direction of Campillos. You will first come to Cártama, and at a very short distance from that village must take the A-355, which leads straight to Coín. You can likewise get to this locality by the N-340. Almost equidistant between Torremolinos and Málaga is the very well marked exit for the A-366, which first passes through Churriana, Alhaurín de la Torre, and Alhaurín el Grande before getting to Coín.

The other two access routes start at the Mediterranean Expressway (N-340). One of them is by the A-368 exit a few kilometres from Benalmádena; you must first go Mijas and later take the A-387 to Alhaurín el Grande, where you can connect with the A-366, which leads to Coín. From Fuengirola (another of the access points) you must take the A-387 to Mijas, and from there follow the same route as previously explained.

Almost the entire municipality of Estepona is dominated by the majestic Sierra Bermeja range. This massif is formed of volcanic rocks known as periodite, a mineral rich in iron oxide, that imparts a characteristic reddish tinge to the terrain. The Paraje Natural (Nature Park) of Los Reales de Sierra Bermeja (highest point 1,449 metres) is located in this setting. Here are found the largest masses of periodite in southern Europe. This natural space, with an area of 1,236 hectares, also preserves the only forest of Spanish firs on this type of rock.

The preceding may give some idea of this area's extraordinary ecological value. This translates visually into an beautiful scenery, especially at the highest elevations, which command an extremely broad panoramic view encompassing not only the coast but also the Atlas mountain range on the neighbouring continent of Africa.

In the lower regions of the municipality the waters that come down from the mountains have formed several short rivers in the eastern part, including the Padrón, Castor, and Velerín, on whose banks citrus and fruit trees grow, while in the west, and in some areas that meet the sea, one again sees fruit orchards and, even more frequently, broad fields of grain, low brush and grazing lands. This is in frank contrast to the coastal strip, where, besides the village itself, endless urban developments have sprung up, as is to be expected of a first class tourist locality.

Nevertheless, the municipality has avoided massive development as much as possible, so there are still large green zones between the most heavily developed areas, and even these generally have open spaces. This has led to the Town Hall of Estepona being honoured with the “Live in Spain-CISA 2004” award for the best residential urban development planning.

The village's origin is rather confusing, but it seems that the Phoenicians, who established a commercial trading post at this point, called it Astapa. Some historians connect Estepona to the Iberian town of Saldaba, which others think was in Marbella, and there are those who cite Cilciana as the origin of the village. Be that as it may, on the hill of El Torreón ruins have been found that well may be of this primitive settlement.

It has been established with more certainty that this locality was besieged by the Roman Lucius Marcius because its residents had remained loyal to the Carthaginians, until in 208 B. C. it fell to the Romans. Later, and after the customary confrontations between Muslims and Christians-Alfonso XI fought a historic battle off the coast of Estepona in 1342 and emerged victorious-the village was conquered by Enrique IV, under whose ruse the San Luis castle was built, of which some ruins still remain on Calle Castillo.

The locality was subject to the jurisdiction of Marbella until 1729, when Felipe V granted it its independence by means of a document called a “carta de villazgo” (charter of royal burgh privileges) that is preserved in the municipal archives.

How to Get There

Since it is located right on the Western Costa del Sol Estepona can be reached with perfect ease by the AP-7 expressway or the coastal highway N-340: Just follow the road signs.

The territory of Istán is framed by the Sierra de las Nieves range and part of it is even included in the area that has been designated a Biosphere Reserve. Little more need be said to describe the ecological value of this area that is, moreover, overlooked by the Sierra Real range (1,331 metres) in the north, whose scenery competes with that of the La Zarina (1,141 metres) and Lastonar (1,260 metres) hills very near the coast.

The River Verde valley opens a path through these heights. Before reaching the La Concepción reservoir it flows through such exceptionally attractive landscape as Dehesa de Bornoque, where cork oaks mix with gall oaks and even some Spanish firs, which shows how widely distributed this last species is in the Sierra de las Nieves. Closer to the village the valley takes in terraced lands where fruit trees and vegetables grow.

The area's first settlers were the Muslims, who in the time of Omar Ben Hafsun occupied the Arboto fort that was located in a place known as Plaza de Armas. The actual foundation of Istán, however, was in the mid-fifteenth century when the Christian troops under the command of Saavedra Urdiales prepared the attack on the Arboto fortress in 1448. After a battle on the banks of the River Verde the defeated Arabs fled to the present site of Istán, which name apparently means “the highest place”. Here they built a new fortress of which some ruins still remain, and the village's first houses sprang up next to this bastion.

When the Moorish rebellion erupted in 1568 Istán did not hesitate to take a very active part in it, since the lord of the village was the person who was in charge of fomenting the rebellion not only in the coastal zone but also in the Ronda highlands. Realising the gravity of the situation, Felipe II dispatched Luis Ponce de León, who finally put an end to the uprising. With the outbreak squashed and the Moors driven out, Istán was repopulated with Christians, many of whom came from Murcia and spoke the “Panocho” dialect, and this term was applied as a nickname to the residents of Istán.

How to Get There

Since it is only about 13 kilometres from the coastal strip Istán can be reached in 15 or 20 minutes from the expressway that runs for the full length of the Costa del Sol. Leave the AP-7 (N-340) expressway at Puerto Banús, near Marbella, and take the A-6206 straight to the village.