Fuengirola, a sun city on Costa del Sol

Fuengirola beaches

Fuengirola Map

Fuengirola History It is thought that Fuengirola was grounded by phoenecians. There are some texts from the greek historian Hecateo which more than 2500 years ago already mentioned the presence of SYALIS, a fortressed town on the coast in the surroundings of Malaca (ancient greek name of Malaga).

It was under the roman empire (300 a.c.) when the old Phoenician town became to be named Suel. During that period the city grew as a fishing centre, as it can be concluded after visiting the vestiges of roman thermal terms and salting rooms close to the Sohail Castle.

After some centuries of roman domination the Arabs conquered all south Spain and the town changed his name for the Arabic one Suhayl. This name represents the second brightest star in the sky used by the Muslim tradition as an indicator of the direction where the Meca is placed. In northern cultures like European, this star is called Canopus. The Arabs chose this name because from the Sohail Castle is the only place of the region where this south hemisphere star can be seen.

Before the end of the Muslim period a huge fire forced a big amount of the inhabitants of Fuengirola to emigrate to the near Mijas. 7 August 1485 was the day when the general Rodrigo Ponce de León led a Christian army to the reconquest of the Sohail Castle ending that day the period of Muslim domination. After the battle the first political measure was the attempt to repopulate Fuengirola. Nevertheless, the difficulties of that time mixed with the worry of the population about a possible attempt by the Muslims to attack the town let Fuengirola even more deserted.

Between the 15th and the 19th century Fuengirola started to be a town dependant on the Mijas Council. It was not until 19 May 1841 when Fuengirola gained again his independency having at that time 409 as an official number of inhabitants.

Nowadays Fuengirola is one of the most important tourist locations in the Mediterranean coast being a reference for all Tour agencies inside and outside of Spain. It is one of the most densely inhabited places in Europe, with more than sixty thousand inhabitants living in fourteen squared kilometres. Even though, Fuengirola is an economical and financial power in the region and a very nice place to live not only because of its infrastructures but also because of the good mood of thei “Fuengiroleños” and the soft weather during the whole year.

If you have not visited Fuengirola yet do not hesitate, you will not regret doing it.