Benalmádena is a sunny Andalusian coastal town located 12 kilometres west of Málaga on the Costa del Sol, between Torremolinos and Fuengirola. The town offers a well-developed tourist infrastructure, with several apartments to rent suitable for long term winter lets, beautiful white beaches on the Mediterranean Sea, cliffs, and a stunning mountainous backdrop. Benalmádena is well connected to Malága, the Andalusian capital, hence the rest of the Spanish Peninsula.
The town rapidly expanded during the 21st century, thanks to the region’s good weather and the flourishing tourism of Costa del Sol. The area underwent massive urbanization, with several houses, residential complexes and hotels built within a few decades. While on one side some of the buildings have been designed with little regard for the surrounding environment, Benalmádena urban expansion brought, alongside a vast number of flats and villas for rent, several facilities including two aquariums, a casino, an amusement park, a cable car to access the nearby mountain, and the largest tourist port of Andalusia.
Benalmádena is divided into three districts, each with its specific characteristics. The old town, located roughly 3 kilometres inland from the coast, lies at an elevation of 200 metres above sea level. It includes numerous recent modern buildings alongside the typical white houses of the Andalusian tradition. In the old town of Benalmádena, it is possible to find decently-priced flats to rent for the winter months.
Right on the seafront lies Benalmádena Costa, the upscale part of town. Here, several nightclubs, bars, shopping centres and restaurants gravitate around the modern marina animate the district. Among the tourist attractions, there are two aquariums – the SeaLife and the Selwo Marina - with dolphins, seals and other species, and the recently-built Parque Paloma, a zoopark with a lake and wild animals. Benalmádena Costa offers upper-scale apartments and villas for long term rentals and winter lets.
The last district, Arroyo de la Miel (Honey Stream), is in between Costa and the old town. This is Benalmádena main residential area, and also the busiest in terms of commerce. The apartment blocks are one next to the other, with several flats available for rent. Among the attractions, the Tivoli World amusement park and the cable car, that reaches the peak of the Calamorro – an 800 metres mountain from which to admire the Sierra Nevada and, on clear days, the coastline of Morocco.
While the urban area is densely-built, the surrounding mountains offer stunning views and the typically Mediterranean nature, composed of thyme and rosemary bushes, juniper, pine trees and wild olive trees. Among the endemic species, we find owls, kestrels, eagles and - in the sea - whales and dolphins. The town also features a popular nudist beach, Playa Nudista Benalnatura.
