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Mijas Pueblo is one of the finest examples
of the "white villages," it still has much of its charm with its little
whitewashed houses perched on the hillside. The village has also
managed to retain some of its quaint traditions, one of the most
unusual being the donkey-taxis which line the central plaza. Mijas is a
typical Andalucian village, perched high above Fuengirola and Mijas
Costa with spectacular views of the coast and surrounding heavily
wooded mountains. Mijas is a web of narrow cobbled streets complete
with terraces overflowing with geraniums, red tile roofs, archways and
of course, the occasional chirping canary. Like Ronda just over the
mountain top, the village dates back to distant times and there are two
Mudejar churches here to prove it, as well as the sanctuary of the
patron saint of Mijas..
Ronda is one of the oldest cities of Spain.
Its origin, according to archaelogical findings in the old city space
belongs to the Neolithic age. Despite of this, the presence of the
human being in this land can be explained at a previous time. A proof
of this are the sites found at caves, being the most important the one
found at the Pileta's Cave, which is one of the best cave's paintings
examples of all the Paleolithic age in Andalusia.
The
beautiful town of Ronda lies 60km up a winding mountain road from
Marbella in the mountain range known as the Serranía de Ronda. It
stands at an altitude of 739 m and has approximately 35,000 inhabitants.It is one of the most visited towns in Andalucia with most people arriving on day excursions from the Costa del Sol.Some
artefacts found around Ronda date back to prehistoric times (as far as
28000 BC). Every architectural era is represented here including Roman,
Arabic, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque.
Coin is
situated in the fertile valley of the Rio Grande approximately 21 km
inland from Marbella and there is little doubt that a community of some
kind existed on the spot long before the Roman conquest. Nevertheless,
it was the Romans who gave it the first name which has survived:
Lacibis. It became a market town, a transition point for the minerals
being quarried 5 kilometres or so to the south in the Sierra Blanca.
Marble from these quarries was certainly used in the construction of
the Roman town of Italica, which once stood close to Seville, and was
the birthplace in 76 AD of the future emperor, Hadrian.
Coin was also featured as the setting for the BBC's spectacularly unsuccessful soap opera, Eldorado.
Nerja Once a small fishing
village is now the biggest resort to the east of Malaga, and has
managed to avoid the worst effects of unrestrained expansion and
high-rise hotels. There are still plenty of bars and nightclubs for
those wanting to party the night away; however, the old town centre has
retained some of its original charm.
The Balcón de Europa is a cliff
that juts out to sea and is enclosed by two sheltered beaches. It is a
favourite spot for many visitors with a beautiful view of the
Mediterranean.
Nerja is probably most famous for its caves, which lie some 6 km
inland. The entrance to this huge system of limestone caverns was
discovered in 1959 by some boys chasing bats. The caves are protected
and have been well preserved with many parts still closed to the public
including areas with prehistoric paintings of animals and human
figures. It is estimated that the caves were inhabited between 20,000
BC and 1,800 BC
Nerja is one place we highly recommend and is approximatly 1 hour and 30 minutes by car from Calahonda. Excursions are also available and can be booked in advance from Calahonda strip.
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