Although many locals laughed at the seemingly bizarre idea of building a five-star hotel on the beach in a small fishing village, the luxurious Hotel Pez Espada opened for business on Sunday 31 May 1959. The history of the Costa del Sol, and especially the history of Torremolinos, would be incomplete without referring to the hotel, for it became renowned for its famous guests and its illustrious galas and parties.
Playa el Cable (Cable Beach) takes its name from the overhead cable "El Cable Teleferico" runway that transported buckets of iron ore down from the Peñoncillo mine on the Sierra Blanca to ships moored offshore. If you look out to the sea you can't miss seeing the large anchor end tower of the line.
The castle was built in the middle of the thirteenth century and remained in use until the early sixteenth century, when it lost its military functionality. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries it was used again, as headquarters for troops during the conflict of the Portuguese Restoration and the French occupation in the War of the Independence.
When visitors see the magnificent baroque entrance to this vast stone building, most assume they're looking at yet another of Seville's palaces or grand residences. In fact, its origins are more prosaic: a tobacco factory, albeit one of Spain's largest buildings.
There are about 100 different watchtowers (Torre Vigia or Torre Atalaya or Torre Almenara) along the coast of Southern Spain. Some are of Moorish origins others from date from the later Christian re-conquest period. All with the purpose of looking out for invaders from the South. They have lasted the centuries with remarkable strength.
The Casa de las Tejerinas is a stately house in the centre of Estepona in the Plaza de los Flores. It was owned by the Tejerinas sisters and became a hospital for the poor. It was taken over by the town hall and renovated in the 1980's to become the 'Casa de la Cultura' where cultural events such as art exhibitions, courses, lectures took place.
Inside five small dolmens (standing stones) can be viewed. They are original and date from about 3,000 BC. Also on display are a number of pottery vessels, stone tools, arrowheads, axes, personal ornaments, necklace beads made of semi-precious stones and perforated seashells. The skulls and skeletons and other bones on display are reproductions as the originals are preserved.
The Moorish castle is the landmark of Velez-Malaga and worth visiting especially for the view and orientation. Access can be by car, there is ample parking inside the grounds. You can visit by the footpath from Calle Forteleza Alta which rises through woods behind the Iglesia de Santa Maria.
Signposted off the road to Illora, about 7km east Montefrio, is an intriguing and unmissable archaeological site, the Peñas de los Gitanos, which has evidence of human settlement from Neolithic times to the Bronze Age.
The original path was built between 1901 and 1905 by the Sociedad Hydroelectrica del Chorro (Chorro Hydroelectric Society). A pioneering project to take advantage of the 100m drop in the river Guadalhorce required the construction of a small dam.
Just outside Antequera you can visit three 5,000-year-old dolmens: Menga Dolmen (the largest in Europe) and Viera Dolmen, which are both located just outside the town, while El Romeral Dolmen is a few km away. These three prehistoric burial chambers represent some of the largest and most complete megalithic structures in Europe.
Madinat al-Zahra was declared a UNESCO world heratige site on 1st July 2018. We are in the year 400 of the Hegira, 1010 AD of our era. On the southern slopes of Jebel al-Arus, the Bride's Mountain, the marble, jasper and precious metals of the city of Madinat al-Zahra gleam in the morning sun among silver-leafed olive groves.
The aqueduct was built by the Romans during their reign over parts of Andalucia. The aqueduct would have served, not only as a valuable supply of fresh water to the town's population, but also would have been vital for the salting industry believed to be practiced in the town.
Situated on a mound overlooking Almuñécar and with views across the Mediterranean, the San Miguel Castle made for an excellent defensive stronghold. The castle is said to date back to the Phoenician era in 7th century BC. Since then the castle offers a fantastic journey through time having Roman, Moorish and more recently Christian influences.
Castillo del Aguila (Eagle's Castle) in the Moorish hilltown of Gaucin, consists of a series of fortifications built across a rocky ridge above the village. The castle, which is of Roman origin, and was reinforced by the Moors, is located on top of a hill whose east and south slopes are practically impregnable; the best way to reach this magnificent, historic building is by walking up Calle Larga.
A symbol of British power in late 19th-century Huelva, the Casa Colón is the grandest of all the buildings constructed by the city's bourgeoisie around the same time. It is an imposing presence at the beginning of the Alameda Sundheim, with a terracotta façade and ornate wrought-iron balconies.
The Barrio de Reina Victoria, otherwise known as the "Barrio Obrero" (Workers' District), is a testament to its name: an example of a Victorian English suburb superimposed onto an Andalucian landscape. Situated at the eastern end of Alameda Sundheim.
The ruins of this 32 hectare city are located at 1.000m above sea level. This is an urban are that thrived in the first century AD when it had a population of 5.000. It was mentioned in Plini and, inscriptions to Geninn Oppidi, to the god Marse and to Victoria Augusta have been found. The city even minted its own money, which features bunches of grapes.
A lighthouse has stood on the natural limestone headland known as Punta Doncella at the west end of La Rada beach in Estepona since an 8,5 metre structure was completed by engineer Antonio Molina in 1863. The original olive oil burning lamp was purchased from Sautter the French maker. It was replaced in 1882 by a paraffin 'Maris' lamp and then by a petrol one in 1904.
Located in Calle Luis de Armiñan, the building stands on the site of a small ermita (Hermitage) called Vera Cruz. In 1700 Bartolome del Rio asked Don Juan Carlos Alonso Perez de Guzman el Bueno, 11th Duke of Medina Sidonia, for authorization to build a Carmelitas Descalzados convent. It was inaugurated on 15 August 1704.
