Torremolinos Favorites

Favorite thing: One of the main squares in Torremolinos PLAZA COSTA DEL SOL has much to offer. To get to it from the beaches area, climb the stairs or take the elevator to Calle San Miguel. Walk through this main shopping street until you come to the Plaza. You will see an exchange booth on the left, so turn left.
The Plaza is a wonderful meeting spot, with great shops, restaurants with terraces, even a Burger King. This is also the location for the entrance to Torremolinos Train Station. I often sit on a bench near the Sculpture and just people watch. One day a South American Native Indian duo was playing in the square. Beautiful and relaxing music.

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Favorite thing: This was originally an old fishing village and although it has developed into a very popular tourist resort area, LA CARIHUELA has retained much of it's original charm with typical white houses overlooking the sea.
The area stretches from "the rock" at Torremolinos through to the port of Benalmadena although that end is usually referred to as Montemar.

One of the best beaches in Costa del Sol, La Carihuela is a classic on the Spanish Mediterranean. Close to both Torremolinos and Benalmadena, this beach (Photo #1) is ideal for families and also for the young and trendy. It has many bars, pubs, clubs and restaurants to offer with all types of cuisine, drinks and ambience. Also offers great shopping (Photo # 3 & #4) and cozy apartments to stay, like the Apartamentos Plazamar (Photo # 5).
Once a sleepy fishing village, it boasts traditional fresh fish chiringuitos where you will find boquerones (fried anchovies), calamares ( squid rings), paella and sardinhas ( sardines).
Betweem Montemar and Bajondillo Beaches, La Carihuela offers sapphire blue sea, plentiful sun beds and umbrellas, and windsurfing and pedal boats for hire.

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Favorite thing: Located on Calle Carmen, in the Barrio de la Carihuela is the small CHURCH OF OUR LADY DEL CARMEN or Parroquia nostra senora del Carmen. It is tucked in among the shops on Calle Carmen and the entrance has two big anchors on either side, as Saint Carmen is the patron saint of sailors and fishermen. Its facade has a beautiful ceramic panel which depicts the virgin.
Inside is a wonderful altar and a few rows of wooden pews for praying and church services.

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Favorite thing: The seafront promenade PASEO MARITIMO stretches for many km's along the coastal beaches - Bajondillo - Playamar - La Carihuela - as far as Benalmadena. Some dramatic rock formations can be seen along the promenade, as well as shops to snoop, restaurants to have a bite to eat and benches to sit and just people watch. One of my favourite things to see are all the cats that make this area their home, as they are well fed and well taken care of.

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Favorite thing: Erected as a monument to all fisherman, this impressive sculpture of a fisherman casting his net, is located in front of the Plaza del Remo. It can be seen on the Paseo on the way to Benalmadena. This area has long been known for its fishing industry and boasts some of the freshest and best variety of fish.

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Favorite thing: I must confess that I found all the beaches in Torremolinos area very common, even ugly. Dark sand, artificial beaches, heavy construction, are negative details. In the positive side I may list the temperature in the water, the professionalism of Spanish hotels, the distance from Portugal and the competitive prices.

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Fondest memory: My friend and I decided on renting a flat in Torremolinos for 6 months in 2009. We found this amazing place through Dreamtimeproperties for a very good price. This edificio is excellent, 8 years old and the only one of its kind in Torremolinos. There is a line of hotels by the beach and then this one privately owned block-of-flats/edificio. There are three identical buildings which form a semicircle with 2 excellent swimming pools in the middle, one kids' pool and one for everybody. There is a life-guard there and it is only open during the high-season, June-September.

We counted our blessings to have found a flat there as during the night there was a night-guard and the garden was beautifully lit up. And the view from our balcony was of Hotel Don Pablo where we watched the guests at the hotel play sport. It is a very lifely area and in one of the buildings there are line of restaurants on the ground-floor (see my tips on restaurants). When we arrived in March not many people had arrived - these flats are mainly owned by Spanish people and serve as their summer residence.

The garden was fantastic, like a botanical garden (my favourite) and there was a gardener and a maintenance man.

A female stray cat had just had 3 kittens when we arrived and we followed them growing up for 6 months.

The flat was small but very nice and I would again rent a similar flat at this fantastic place right by the beach.

If ever you get the chance to rent a flat there I highly recommend it.

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Favorite thing: When I first started looking at what was written about Torremolinos, I thought this was just a place to laze around on the beach. The town was in the middle of my trip and not being the sort to slow down on a holiday, I started looking at options of a day trip to Malaga. This never happened. Once I was out walking, I just kept going. Yes there are beautiful beaches to enjoy, there is also a lot to be seen by just walking up and down the streets and pedestrian areas of the town. I had no problem filling the day and a half spent in Torremolinos, in fact I could have spent a whole lot more. A very pleasant surprise.