Its municipal area stretches from the eastern section of the Sierra de Mijas to the Guadalhorce Valley and the Malaga Basin, in a landscape ranging form pine groves to vegetable gardens, sprinkled with numerous housing estates and residential areas.
The village was founded by the Arabs, but retains little evidence of its Moslem past, having become a dormitory town for Malaga and Torremolinos. Nearby are the Royal Pigeon Shooting Society and a golf course.

Its origins date back to the period in which Gades exercised its hegemony over the whole of the Frentum Gaditanum (Straits of Gibraltar), over three thousand years ago, when the Phoenicians began their wanderings and founded their first commercial factories, encouraged by the rich mineral deposits to be found in the south of the peninsula.
In Roman times, it was called Lauro Vetus, and, later, Laurona. According to Floro, fugitives from the Battle of Munda took refuge in Lauro, and it was here that supporters of Julius Caesar beheaded Gnaeus Pompeius. He may have been referring to Lauro Vetus, although the early settlement was located lower down than the present-day village.

During the Moslem occupation it was called Alhaurein. Remains of Arabic walls are to be found in the village, specifically in the Torre de Alhaurin vegetable garden.
It was conquered by the Catholic Monarchs in 1485. On 5 December, 1831, in La Alqueria, a district in the village’s municipal area, General Torrijos and his entourage, who, several days previously, had landed on the beaches of Fuengirola, believing that the people of Malaga and, more importantly, its garrison would support his insurrection against Ferdinand VII’s absolutist régime, were cornered. After three days of resistance, they gave themselves up and were shot a few days later on La Misericordia beach in the provincial capital; he was later buried in the mausoleum which stands at the centre of Malaga’s Plaza de la Merced square.

The 18th century saw work begin on an aqueduct which was never completed, today the remains of this unusual project still stand, a curious architectural structure which has provided shelter for a series of houses built under what have become known as Zapata Arches (Arcos de Zapata).
At the end of the 19th century, Alhaurin de la Torre, along with the rest of the province, was affected by a phylloxera epidemic, which destroyed most of the village’s vines.

Fiestas:
The month of January is particularly good for festivals in Alhaurín de la Torre. On January 5th, thewell-known Cabalgata de los Reyes Magos (Procession of the Three Kings) takes place. Sweets and toys are thrown into the crowd from each of the floats, and after the Three Kings give presents to all the children of Alhaurin.
On January 20th there is a festival in honour of San Sebastián. The celebrations go on for three days, with cultural and folkloric activities taking place, in which the entire town takes part. The Day of the Purification of the Most Holy Virgin - El Día de la Purificación de la Santísima Virgen - takes place on February 2nd, the virgin being known as the Virgen de la Candelaria. One of the traditions in the town is to make offerings of traditionally made doughnuts decorated in coloured ribbons to the Virgin, and at night-fall, the burning of the dolls takes place in a huge bonfire in the central square.

The carnival is held in February and March, with a few days of typical carnival fun in the streets during this period. After the carnival there is a national competition of percussion bands. There are only two brotherhoods (hermandades) in the Holy Week processions in Alhaurín, and these processions attract tourists and visitors from far and wide. The Festival of Corpus Christi takes place in May and June, in which the streets and houses are decorated with flowers and altars. The Fiestas Mayores de San Juan Bautista, summer patron saint of the municipality, take pl
ace at the end of June, with the Flamenco Festival, the "Torre del Cante", being held a week earlier. This is one of the most prestigious flamenco festivals in all of Andalucía.