Fuengirola

Cosmopolitan and touristy, Fuengirola is one of the most popular towns on Costa del Sol, welcoming thousands of visitors from Spain and abroad every year. Yet, it is a quiet place with excellent weather – like all the other towns on the Western Costa del Sol.

Located by the sea, it has attracted men since time immemorial. The town could have been founded by the Phoenicians. It grew larger with the Romans, becoming a civitas foederata, which meant it had its own jurisdiction and institutions, like Málaga City.

Called ‘Suel’ by the Phoenicians and ‘Sohail’ by the Arabs, Fuengirola got its current name in the eighteenth century, when it was a major hub supplying the ships heading for Gibraltar. Many of the ships were Genoese and so they were called ‘girolas’. Hence the name of the town.