Mijas

This classically pretty mountain village overlooking Fuengirola at the heart of the Costa del Sol is quintessentially Andalusian. It was founded by the indigenous Spanish Iberian people several thousands of years ago, and as you walk through its pretty cobbled streets separating little squares and tightly-packed whitewashed houses, bear in mind that you are the latest in a long row of visitors that stretches all the way back to the Moors, Visigoths, Romans, Phoenicians and classical Greeks.

Today, Mijas is much-loved for the quaint beauty of its whitewashed houses set upon a hillside location 400 metres above sea level. The parks, squares, historic buildings and pretty little bullring join charming restaurants, tapas bars and local shops to form one of the most enduringly attractive places to visit in this part of Spain.

This agricultural town in the foothills of the Sierra de Mijas occupies a large municipal area that stretches all the way down green valleys just west of Fuengirola to the sea, where the little seaside village of La Cala de Mijas forms the local hub for popular Costa del Sol suburbs such as Calahonda, Miraflores, Riviera del Sol, Cabopino – which sports its own marina – and La Cala Golf. The latter is an exclusive country club with golf courses, which like its counterpart Mijas Golf, a little further inland, is situated between the sea and the mountain village itself.