Benalmádena () is a town in
Andalusia
Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...
in southern
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, 12 km west of
Málaga
Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...
, on the
Costa del Sol
The Costa del Sol (; literally "Coast of the Sun") is a region in the south of Spain in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, comprising the coastal towns and communities along the coastline of the Province of ...
between
Torremolinos and
Fuengirola
Fuengirola () is a city 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 province and integrated into the region of the Costa del Sol and the Com ...
.
Benalmádena is rich in attractive beaches and interesting places like the Colomares Castle, the 33-metre-tall Buddhist
Benalmádena Stupa, the largest Buddhist stupa in Europe, the Benalmádena Marina and the Benalmádena Cable Car.
Benalmádena covers an area of just over 27 km
2 that extends from the summits of the Sierra de Mijas to the sea, falling in some places as a cliff. The territory is crossed from east to west on
Highway A-7, which connects with the provincial capital and other centres of the Mediterranean coast.
With 61,383 inhabitants according to the
INE census of 2010, Benalmádena is the eighth most populous municipality in the province and the third largest
metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...
, behind Málaga and Torremolinos. The population is concentrated in three main centers: Benalmádena Pueblo, Arroyo de la Miel and Benalmádena Costa, although the high urban growth and demographic tends to unify the three cores.
Benalmádena has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Benalmádena experienced a remarkable development during the period of Muslim domination. Its development was paralyzed after joining the
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingd ...
in 1485 due to various natural disasters and the intensity of the activity of
privateer
A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...
s in the area. The paper industry and
vineyard
A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...
cultivation reactivated the local economy during the 18th and 19th centuries.
In the early 21st century Benalmádena is one of the main tourist destinations on the Costa del Sol, with leisure facilities including an amusement park, two aquariums, a casino, a cable car and one of the largest marinas of Andalusia.
History
Historically the region has been occupied and settled by many cultures dating back to the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
, including the ancient
Phoenicia
Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...
ns and
Romans, and has also been considerably influenced by the
Moorish
The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...
settlement of the southern
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...
. Two Almenara towers on the coastline date back to the 15th century, originally built to guard the coast and its population from the frequent incursions of
Barbary pirates
The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...
in the years following the ''
reconquista
The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...
'' (reconquest) of the region by
Henry IV of Castile
Henry IV of Castile (Spanish language, Castilian: ''Enrique IV''; 5 January 1425 – 11 December 1474), nicknamed the Impotent, was King of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingdom of León, León and the last of the weak late-medieval kings of Ca ...
.
In contemporary times, along with the rest of the Costa del Sol area it has become an important tourist destination. The municipality has been subject to an unprecedented urban expansion in recent years with many new buildings and homes built, sometimes causing
environmental degradation
Environment most often refers to:
__NOTOC__
* Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...
.
Benalmádena has both a traditional Spanish village and a modern, coastal, tourist area.
Etymology
Many authors give theories about the origin of the name of the town, but none has been proven. The first documents which contain references to Benalmádena from the 15th century in the context of the struggle to win back the
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingd ...
against the
Nasrid Kingdom of Granada
The Emirate of Granada, also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, was an Islamic polity in the southern Iberian Peninsula during the Late Middle Ages, ruled by the Nasrid dynasty. It was the last independent Muslim state in Western Europe.
...
. The assumption on which most historians agree is the Arabic toponym of ''Ibn al-ma' din'' "son of the mines" for the iron and ochre bed found in the area. Another theory, also related to the Arabic word Bina al-ma'din, whose translation would be "the construction or building of the mine".
There are others theories such as the Arabic for "people between springs", Bena-A La Ena. Another suggestion is that name derives from Bina al-Madina, "the state of the al-Madina's family"; according to historical data they were a rich family of Muslim Málaga and could have owned the area. It has also been suggested that the name of the municipality referred to a lineage of the Madana, Ben al-Madana.
Before Roman Empire
The first human settlements in the area are from the
Upper Palaeolithic
The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories ...
, 20,000 years ago according to the finding of some caves located in the area: "Cueva del Toro", "Cueva del Botijo" and "Cueva de la Zorrera". In the 8th and 7th centuries BC the
Phoenicians
Phoenicians were an ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syrian coast. They developed a maritime civi ...
, were interested of the mining of the zone. the Phoenicians founded several colonies all along the Spanish coast. Romans replaced Phoenicians as traders and started to use the wealth of the Mediterranean. Among the Roman remains are the ruins of Benal-Roma, a salting factory located on the coast, the site of Torremuelle, and enamelware and other items preserved in the Museum of Benalmádena. The wine culture had great importance during the period of Roman domination.
Middle Ages
In the following centuries the area became depopulated. People sought refuge within Málaga's city walls from attacks and looting from the sea. The municipality was included in the Roman province of Baetica. It was later taken by Visigoths and Byzantines. After the Muslim invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, the area was greatly developed. In the 11th century, the population were concentrated into a walled town and a fortress, both located in "Benalmádena Pueblo". Muslims developed the agriculture and introduced sugar cane, figs, grapes and mulberry (used in the textile industry) from the East.
Ibn al-Baitar
Diyāʾ al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad al-Mālaqī, commonly known as Ibn al-Bayṭār () (1197–1248 AD) was an Al-Andalus, Andalusian Arabs, Arab physician, botanist, pharmacist and scientist. His main contribution was to sys ...
, one of the most important botanists and pharmacologists of the Middle Ages, was born here in 1197.
Before French revolution
In 1456 the fort and the town were destroyed by Christian armies under the command of King Enrique IV of Castilla. The villagers took refuge in Mijas to rebuild their homes, which were destroyed again in 1485 by King
Ferdinand the Catholic in his final conquest. Over the next six years the town was deserted. In 1491 the king ordered
Alonso Palmero to colonise the area with thirty old Christians and Palmero as mayor, but an earthquake and the constant pirate attacks made it impossible to inhabit the town. It was in these times that the Arabic name became Castilianized and the town became Benalmaina.
Modern age
In 1784 the Italian Félix Solesio purchased the farm "Arroyo de la Miel" to build six paper factories to supply the Royal Factory of Playing Cards of Macharaviaya. The destination for most production was the American market. This would mean the birth of the nucleus of Arroyo de la Miel around the new business and the factories built at what is now "Plaza de España", containing the "Portal de San Carlos" (San Carlos gate) with the
arms
Arms or ARMS may refer to:
*Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body
Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to:
People
* Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader
Coat of arms or weapons
*Armaments or weapons
**Fi ...
of Solesio and the "La Tribuna" building. A monument to the founder of this complex was erected in the square. In the 19th century the city grew through the exploitation of muscatel grapes for the wine production, but the vine plague of
phylloxera
Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belongs to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs); orig ...
ruined crops across the province. Epidemics of malaria, typhoid and cholera also undermined the population. The municipality's population boom began in the 1950s with the birth and development of mass tourism on the Spanish coast. Many established hotels, restaurants and businesses opened in this period, such as the Hotel Triton (1961),
Tivoli World amusement park (1973), Torrequebrada casino and hotel (1979), Selwo Aquarium, Sea Life Aquarium, Chollocasa, Cable car, Irentinsapain, Hotel Alay. Many more were constructed in the early 21st century.
Geography
The municipality has three main urban areas:
*Benalmádena Pueblo, the original village, which lies about three kilometres inland at an elevation of approximately 200 m
above mean sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
. Its core consists of a typical white-fronted Andalusian village, although including numerous recent buildings in modern architectural styles. The town of Benalmádena also has an archaeological museum with locally derived artefacts dating back to the Bronze Age.
*Benalmádena Costa, an urban agglomeration on the coast. Here there are discos, hotels, beaches, shopping centers and an extensively-equipped
marina
A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.
A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...
.
Tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural beaut ...
s include SeaLife aquarium and Selwo Marina, a theme park with dolphins, penguins and seals among other species. The Parque Paloma is a more recent addition to the attractions, a landscaped park containing a large lake and animals running wild.
*Arroyo de la Miel (Honey Stream), originally a separate village, is in the interior between the other two areas. It has become the main residential area, and is also the most commercially active. Buildings, many of them apartment blocks. are tightly packed. It has attractions such as the
Tivoli World amusement park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...
, and a ''teleferico'' (
cable car) running to the summit of the 769-metre Calamorro mountain, which provides panoramic views of the
Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...
,
Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
and, on clear days, the
Moroccan coastline. The Friday market is a popular attraction.
Climate
The climate is typically Mediterranean, with mild temperatures throughout the year, no frost in the colder months, and an average temperature of . Its privileged climate and location in the southern coastal Europe are two important factors so that the tourism industry is the main economic sector of the municipality. The town has a nudist beach,
Playa Nudista Benalnatura.
Flora and fauna
Benalmádena is a highly urbanised municipality except for the higher areas of the mountains, with few non-urban areas. In the mountains there are typical Mediterranean species such as the
white deadnettle, rock rose, thyme, rosemary and marjoram lily like the
turpentine tree, juniper and pine trees like pine, carob tree and wild olive.
Fauna includes mountain goat, genet, reptiles of various species, eagles, kestrels and owls. Whales and other marine life have been sighted along the coast.
Main sights
The township of Benalmádena has the largest example of a
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
stupa
In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...
in the
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...
,
Benalmádena Stupa, constructed in 2003.
In Arroyo de la Miel, Avenida Garcia Lorca has the Costa del Sol's only real ice skating rink.
File:Torre Quebrada.JPG, Torre Quebrada watchtower
File:Tivoli World.jpg, Tivoli World (closed since 2021)
File:Castillo de Colomares.jpg, Colomares Castle
File:Benalmádena pueblo.jpg, A street of the town
File:Parque de la Paloma 1.JPG, Gardens of La Paloma
File:Delfines Selwo Marina.jpg, Dolphins in Selwo Marina
File:Benalmádena hotel.jpg, Part of the coast
File:Puerto Marina 01.jpg, Puerto Marina.
File:Monte Calamorro.jpg, This mountain can be accessed by the Cable Car facility.
File:Bil-bil.jpg, Bil-bil Castle
Public transport
Benalmádena Council is integrated into the
Málaga Metropolitan Transport Consortium. There is a single ticket for metropolitan and urban buses
Cercanías Málaga
Cercanías Málaga is a commuter rail service between central Málaga, Spain, and towns in the Málaga (province), province. The network consists of of track, with two lines and 23 stations in operation. The trains are powered by overhead lines ...
and
Metro de Málaga.
The town is on the C1 line of the
Cercanías Málaga
Cercanías Málaga is a commuter rail service between central Málaga, Spain, and towns in the Málaga (province), province. The network consists of of track, with two lines and 23 stations in operation. The trains are powered by overhead lines ...
urban railway that runs from Málaga via
Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport to
Fuengirola
Fuengirola () is a city 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 province and integrated into the region of the Costa del Sol and the Com ...
, with trains every 20 minutes. The main station is Arroyo de la Miel and the secondary one is
Torremuelle.
Twin towns
*
Finale Ligure
Finale Ligure (, locally ; ) is a ''comune'' on the Gulf of Genoa, in the province of Savona, in Liguria, Italy. It is considered part of the Italian Riviera. Part of its historical center ("Finalborgo") is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("Th ...
, Italy
*
Nuevitas
Nuevitas is a municipality and port town in the Camagüey Province of Cuba. The large bay was sighted by Christopher Columbus and crew during their first voyage of exploration in 1492.
History
Founded in 1775 during the time of the Spanish Empire ...
, Cuba
*
Beyoğlu
Beyoğlu (; ) is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 9 km2, and its population is 225,920 (2022). It is on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey, separated from the o ...
, Turkey
Notable people
;Scientist
*
Ibn al-Baytar
;Artists
*
Imperio Argentina
;Politicians
*
Celia Villalobos
;Sportspeople
*
Iván Aguilar
*
José Antonio Crespo
*
Isco
*
Junior Firpo
See also
*
List of municipalities in Málaga
References
External links
Official websiteMalaga Metropolitan Transport Consortium
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benalmadena
Municipalities in the Province of Málaga
Nude beaches
Populated coastal places in Spain