La Cala de Mijas (''English: Mijas Bay'') forms part of the Municipality of

Mijas Mijas ( ; ) is a municipality in the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Located on the southeastern coast of Spain, Mijas belongs to the region of Costa del Sol Occidental. Its center is a typical Andalusian white ...

in the province of

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

, southern Spain. In the middle of the

Costa del Sol The Costa del Sol (literally "Coast of the Sun" or "Sun Coast") is a region in the south of Spain in the autonomous community of Andalusia, comprising the coastal towns and communities along the coastline of the Province of Málaga and the easte ...

, La Cala is located in the coastal zone of the municipality, and except for a few rocks is practically urbanized within a radius. It sits between the limits of

Fuengirola Fuengirola (), in ancient times known as Suel and then Suhayl, is a large town and municipality on the Costa del Sol in the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is located on the central coast of the pr ...

to the east, and

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the r ...

to the west. With a population of 4,000 inhabitants, the town is dedicated to

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

, but has some municipal services such as health centers, schools, house of culture and library. Of ecological importance is the sea floor, which houses a rich biodiversity with the coexistence of a large number of European, African, Atlantic and Mediterranean species. Coasts

History

La Cala de Mijas was an agricultural and small, typically Andalusian white-washed

fishing village A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 m ...

, until the beginning of the Spanish tourist boom in the 1960s. Historically it has been a place of defence, fortified with four towers along the coast Mediterranean coast of Andalusia, whose function was to give notice of the presence of enemy ships to the garrisons of Fuengirola,

Benalmádena Benalmádena () is a town in Andalusia in southern Spain, 12 km west of Málaga, on the Costa del Sol between Torremolinos and Fuengirola. Benalmádena is rich in attractive beaches and interesting places like the Colomares Castle, the 33-met ...

and Marbella. This was one of the places where the

Berbers , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , pop2 ...

attacked. The towers are: *Torre de Calahonda (from the 16th century) *New Tower of La Cala del Moral (probably the most modern tower along the coast, 19th century) *Battery Torre La Cala del Moral (16th century) *Calaburras Tower (built around 1515 in the Punta de Calaburras) Known previously as "La Cala del Moral" (''English: the Bay of Mulberries'') due to the

mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...

trees growing in the area, the name was changed in the 1970s to La Cala de Mijas in order to avoid confusion with the similarly named Cala del Moral just outside Málaga. In those early tourist days, La Cala boasted some 30 fishermen's cottages, a couple of bars, an open-air summer

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking * ...

, a

butcher A butcher is a person who may Animal slaughter, slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesal ...

's,

grocer A grocery store (American English, AE), grocery shop (British English, BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food Product (business), products, which may be Fresh food, fresh or Food preservation, packaged ...

's, a small

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

, a school and little else.

Education

La Cala de Mijas is served by IES torre almenara, IES la cala de mijas, el chaparral and jardin botanico.

References

External links

Mijas Council

Malaga Metropolitan Transport Consortium
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cala de Mijas, La Geography of Spain Populated places in the Province of Málaga