Taking a stroll from la Carihuela up to La Roca repeatedly offers the visitor a timeless aspect of Torremolinos. Behind the emblematic fishermen's town, we can gaze at the magnitude of the tourist trading centre which has been guilt in the last fifty years. This city symbolised during the last era of Franco's regime the modernity, the openness and the modern times. The Cinema was responsible for this, and, of course, the Swedish girls. Now, after half a century, Torremolinos continues to be one of the top cities for national tourism. Its leadership seems unconnected with fashion and times.

From pre-history to independence.
Discoveries at the beaches and in the hills and caves of Torremolinos justify a human presence 150.000 years ago. Ptolemy, a Greek astronomer who was born two centuries B.C., stated that very close to here, in an area known as Guadalmar, the Phoenicians founded a city called Saduce, which had a great influence on the Mediterranean as a river port, but proof of its existence is only evident by the sparse remains left.
However, there are remains of the paved road built by the Romans, which connected Gades (Cádiz) to Malaka (Málaga) and which passed through Torremolinos from one side to the other. On both sides of this paved road, villas and salted fish factories were built.
Towards the thirteen hundreds in the dynasty of the Nazaríes, who reigned in Málaga from the thirteenth century up until the fifteenth century, was built the Torre de Defensa (Defense Tower) located at the end of the commercial San Miguel street. Nowadays, this tower is totally dilapidated inside and it also has facial cracks which make it dangerous. Thanks to the calcareous formation of the mountain ranges and the lands of Torremolinos, springs of pure water emerged from them. The Arabs took advantage of this water treasure to built mills which have been the firts mills to be heard of.
With passing years, military strategies were devised in order to defend, not only the mill industry, but the boats that passed through. Thus, in 1763, the construccion of a castle was began where today the Santa Clara Hotel and the nearby hills of Montemar are located. This castle was used in later years as a carabineers' barracks, and at the beginning of the 1900's, it was bought by Sir George Langworthy. The elderly remember with affection this distinguished neighbour, who they used to call "The young English Gentleman" or "The Peseta English Man" because he used to help the needy and the ill to whom he used to give a silver peseta.

In December 1923, 446 neighbours, the majority of a census of 695 people, requested that the Town Hall of Málaga joined Torremolinos with the capital. The reasons for this were for the large debts incurred with the Exchequer and the scarce 5.13 pesetas, that appeared in the Funds for the Town Hall, which did not allow for the future development of the town. It was "The Peseta English Man" who in 1930 converted his finca Santa Clara into a residence for foreigners, and by doing that tourist centre for the Costa del Sol. Some neighbours followed suit. Carlota Alessandri restored her Cucazorra farmstead, in 1933, to open Parador Montemar (Montemar Roadside Inn). This was followed by La Roca Hotel in 1942.
In 1948 the Restaurant-Discotheque El Remo was opened to liven up the nights in La Carihuela. In 1959 the first luxury hotel for the Costa del Sol, the Pez Espada, was opened. The beaches changed their aspect and the sun loungers and parasols appeared everywhere.
The fifties arrived. There was a constant flow of tourist traffic arriving at the airport. Ava Gadner, Empress Soraya, Orson Wells, Boris Karloff and Frank Sinatra, could be seen at the Café Central, at the discotheque El Mañana, at the flamenco bars El Jaleo and El Piyayo...
At the end of the 70's a large citizen movement was formed in Torremolinos to again and independent municipality of Málaga. It was a long and hard nine-year struggle. Finally, the Regional Government of Andalucía granted the independence on the 27th September 1988 and that date has been celebrated every year.

The most international "pescaito"
Torremolinos has more than 250 international restaurants, and amongst them there are many Italian, German, Nordic, American, Indonesian, Chinese, Japanese, etc. However, the cuisine from Málaga and Andalucia is the best represented in the area. Especially, at the beach restaurants, the visitors will find the most authentic dishes and amongst them, the fresh "pescaíto frito" stands out and whose origin name was coined in La Carihuela, back in the sixties. The visitor will also find a type of clam, paellas, fish cooked in a block of salt, sardine skewers and the refreshing and nutritious "gazpacho" (cold tomato soup).

City for congresses.
The Palace for Congresses and Exhibitions for the Costa del Sol is the doyen, in its group, of Andalucia. It is an avant-garde building which is only ten minutes away from the airport. It has 22 rooms, 80 offices, a cafeteria and an exhibition hall of 6.000 m2. Outside, 600 free parking spaces for cars and 24 spaces for coaches have been provided, which are surrounded by a garden area of more than 18.000 m2.

All-purpose building.
The Municipal Auditorium Principe de Asturias is one of the largest in Andalucía with an area of more than 200.000 m2. It has room to accommodate 1.790 people stting and almost 6.000 people standing.
Furthermore, it is technically equipped for classical music concerts, ballet, theatre and all other types of popular and cultural events which are held all year round.

For sports lovers.
Torremolinos is an authentic sports paradise. To add to the excellent enviroment for the practice of different nautical sports, we have the additional modern sports facilities. The Ciudad de Torremolinos Sports Centre has an athletics track surrounded by a pine forest and a football ground with natural grass. Next to it, we have the Olympic swimming pool Virgen del Carmen. This covered facility has stands for 800 people, making it suitable to hold high-level competitions and to train elite swimmers such as Nina Jivanevskaya, a Spanish Russian swimmer who was a medallist in the Olympic Games in Sidney.

Entertainment.
Aqualand, which was buil in 1984 and has been continously renovated, is the pioneer of aquatic park in Spain and the largest on the coast. With an area of more than 70.000 m2, it has the highest "kamikaze" in Spain and a new attraction zone.
Crocodiles Park is a thematic park where more than hundred crocodiles up to 500 kilos live and can be seen at close hand. In total, more than 350 animals consisting of amphibians, aquatic birds and crocodiles live together in this habitat built next to the aquatic park. Furthermore, it has an African museum, a créche for baby crocs and an audiovisual room to complete the offer.
The Bullring, inaugurated in 2003 by Javier Conde, Morante de la Puebla and Salvador Vega, is a ring of Andalucian-modernist style and can accommodate aproximately 3.500 spectators. Among other characteristic, it stands out because of its-purpose ring which can hold all types of outdoors shows.
The Botanic Garden Molino de Inca is an exceptional area with an original flour mill which has been rebuilt and now works. More than 500 species of trees grow inside and taking advantage of its microclimate, several bird cages with exotic birds have been installed.
As a tourist centre, Torremolinos offers its visitors many attraction points. Historically, one of the places to visit is the old mill located at the end of San Miguel street, which is the only mill that has remained standing from all the mills that gave the city its name. It is precisely San Miguel street which is a compulsory visit for all the tourists that pass by this leisure and relax centre. San Miguel is a pedestrian street where there is a continuous line of businesses and shops of all descriptions.

La Casa de los Navajas, is a neoarabian building constructed in 1925 which stands out for its beauty and singularity from the othrer buildings. Furthermore, it is worth a visit to the famous spot of la Roca which divides the coast line into two halves. In the centres of popular architecture, the areas that stand out are La Carihuela, a typical sailor neighbourhood, and the zone of El Calvario.
Torremolinos is definitely a unique city and a pioneer of tourism in Europe which aspires to maintain its leadership and which has made it into a mythical place beyond out frontiers.

Basic data:
Size: 20 Km²
Population: Approx. 43,700
Residents known as: Torremolinenses
Monuments: Parish church of San Miguel Arcángel, Torre de Pimentel, Casa de los Navaja, Molino de Inca, Church of Nuestra Sra. del Carmen.
Geographical situation: On the Costa del Sol, 12 kilometres from Malaga between Malaga Bay and the Mijas Mountains, at sea level.
Tourist information: Plaza de Blas Infante, 1. 29620.
Phone: 952 379 511 Fax: 952 379 551

Fiestas:
The list of festivals in Torremolinos is long and varied: the Baile (Dancing) Retro in the Congress Hall, the Carnival, the Verdiales (musical form) Competition, Holy Week, the Cruces de mayo, the Veladilla de San Juan and the festival of Corpus Cristi are just some of the many celebrated in the town. There is also, for example, the Day of the Tourist, in which the town pays tribute to the thousands of tourists that have made Torremolinos what it is today, and the Día del Pescaíto, which is a prologue to the festival in honour of the town’s patron saint, the festival of San Miguel Arcángel. This takes place during the last week in September, coinciding with the celebration of the Santo Patrón on September 29th. The annual Feria takes place in the town centre, and moves to the El Pozuelo Feria grounds at night. The Festival of San Miguel begins a week before a Romería that is considered to be one of the most important in Andalucía. More than 200,000 people gather together every year in the Los Manantiales pine woods to dance, sing and have a good time on the Día de San Miguel.

Gastronomy:
The sea is the great protagonist of Torremolinos cooking. The fish come in all shapes and sizes, and are normally fried or barbecued on the spit, often taken with a glass of refreshing gazpacho soup. Some claim that the best fried fish is available at the chiringuitos along La Carihuela beach, while the many excellent restaurants in the town might dispute this claim. Paella is also a popular dish here, perhaps due to the many foreign tourists that ask for it, but there are many other dishes traditional to Torremolinos that are not fried fish. These include roasted pepper salad, a long-time favourite of the area, made with roasted pepper, onion, tomato, oil, vinegar, salt and ali-oli. Pastry making is an important part of the gastronomic offer of this town too, the traditionally-made Tortas de Aceite de Torremolinos among the most delicious pastries to be had in Spain. But not all the Torremolinos cuisine is traditional. The huge influx of foreigners to the town has left its culinary mark, and in the 250 or so restaurants in the municipality, one finds something good to eat from every continent.