The donkey taxis of
Mijas |
Mijas, known as the White Village, is situated at
the foothills of the Cordón Montañoso del Litoral (Coastal Mountain
Range), one of the most typical examples of the pretty mountain town in
Andalucía, with views over much of the Costa del Sol. The
municipal area covers almost 140 square kilometres, from the mountains down
to the sea, surrounding the municipality of Fuengirola. The urban areas of
Mijas are Mijas Pueblo, Las Lagunas and La Cala de Mijas. In the first we
find the old part of the town with its Town Hall, its historic buildings and
its whitewashed houses. Las Lagunas is where most of the services and
housing developments are situated, as in La Cala de Mijas. The Fuengirola
River flows through the centre of the municipality, where there are large
agricultural areas being gradually taken over by golf courses and luxury
housing estates. The coastal area is highly developed for tourism, even in
the small coves where the mountains reach down to the sea. But the four
Vigilance Towers dating from centuries back are still there, these being the
Calaburras, the Torre Vieja, the Torre Nueva (this built in the 19th
century) and the Torre de Calahonda, built in the 16th century. Arriving
from the old road that unites Mijas with Benalmádena, one passes the large
lookout point opening to the sea, amidst pines and ornamental plants between
the summer houses along the coastline. The origins of the town go back a
long way, as we can see from various archaeological finds made in the area
around the parish church. It was known as Tarnisa in Roman times, then a
prosperous place close to the old road between Malaga and Cadiz. It was
conquered in 714 by the Moorish leader Abdalaziz, son of Muza, through a
pact made with the local Hispano-Gothic population, and it was the Moors who
changed the Roman Tarmina to Mixa, a word that was bastardised into
Castellano as Mijas. During the rebellion of Omar ben Hafsun at the end of
the 9th and beginning of the 10th century, Mijas changed hands a number of
times between the rebels and the emirate. It was conquered by the Christians
after Malaga fell in 1487, just before the fall of the Nazrid kingdom. In
the fighting that followed, Mijas became a military headquarters. Many of
the defeated Moors decided to remain on in the town, which was re-populated
by Christians from the north. Loyal to Juana La Loca in the war of the
Comunidades, Mijas was awarded the title of Villa in 1512, along with a
prize much better appreciated: freedom from taxes. The Crown later conferred
on the town the title Muy Leal (Very Loyal).
Places
to be visited
 |
Hermitage
of the Virgen de la Peña
The Hermitage of the Virgen de la Peña was built by Mercedarian
monks in 1520. Inside is the image of the patron saint of the
town, the Virgen de la Peña, so designated because, according to
legend, she appeared on this spot to two shepherds. The place is
known as El Compás, and there is a lookout point there over the
Mijas Valley and a large part of the Costa del Sol. The area of
the wall, La Muralla, is in fact a garden complex with balconies
from where one can view the coast below. The name comes from the
existence of an ancient wall that was once part of the town’s
defenses.
Casa Museo
Restored and opened to the public just a year ago, this museum
houses farming tools and equipment that show how people worked in
the countryside not so long ago. The inside patio is typically
Andalusian, and the upper floor is given over to exhibitions of
painting, sculpture and traditional crafts. The museum is in the
Plaza de la Libertad. Tel: 952 590 380.
Plaza de Toros
The bullring, square on the outside, is in the La Muralla area. It
was built in 1900, and close to it one can find the Municipal
Auditorium. In the lower area of La Muralla, towards the town
centre, there is a fountain built with blocks of marble that slid
down the mountains after the floods of 1881. Just up from here is
the little square of the Siete Caños, where the Casa de la
Cultura, formerly the Town Hall, stands.
Carromato (Covered wagon) de Max
This curiously named museum houses a unique collection of
miniatures that include the Our Father prayer written on the
borders of a visiting card and Abraham Lincoln painted on the head
of a pin, along with many other small items. It is situated at the
foot of the La Muralla, in the upper part of Mijas Pueblo.
Costa del Sol racetrack
The new Costa del Sol racetrack is one of the best in Spain. Apart
from the traditional horse racing, there is live music there on
Friday and Saturday nights. The Friday night jazz sessions begin
at 9 p.m. and go on to two in the morning, and the music on the
Saturdays takes place before the racing, and is varied in style.
There are also restaurants in the complex. Riding classes are
given there, along with advanced riding and show jumping.
Internet.
Museum of the Torres Vigías (Cala de
Mijas)
Times: Autumn-winter. Thursdays and Fridays from 5 to 8 p.m. and
Saturdays and Sundays from 11 to 1 and from 4 to 8 p.m.
Spring-summer. Tuesdays to Sundays from 11 to 1 and from 7 to 11
p.m. Tel: 952 590 380.
|
| Where
to eat |
Restaurante La
Mandrágora. Slovakian/French/Spanish cuisine.
Specialising in Magret de pato with fresh fig sauce, dorada with
saffron. Centro Comercial "El Zoco" Mijas Costa
(Calahonda).Tel: 952 93 04 40. Open every day from 7 to 11 p.m.
Restaurante La Alcazaba.
Specialising in fish, seafood and paella. Panoramic views. Plaza
de la Constitución. Mijas Pueblo. Tel: 952 590 253. Closed on
mondays.
Restaurante El Castillo.
Traditional cooking. Flamenco performances on Tuesdays, Thursdays
and Sundays. Plaza de la Constitución, pasaje de los Pescadores.
Mijas Pueblo.Tel: 952 485 348.
Restaurante El Padrasto.
Spanish and international cuisine. Panoramic views. Avda. del
Compás, 22. Mijas Pueblo. Tel: 952 485 000.
Cortijo Hermanos Alba.
Specialising in fish and seafood. Ctra.de Mijas, Km.4 Tel:
952 485 554.
Marisquería El Torreón. Seafood
cuisine. C/Reina Fabiola, 31. Mijas Costa. Tel: 952 493 926.
El Mirlo Blanco. Basque
cuisine. Pza.de la Constitución. Tel: 952 485 700.
|
| Where
to sleep |
Hotel
Byblos(5*). Urbanización Mijas Golf. Mijas Costa. Tel:
952 473 050.
Hotel La Cala Resort(5*).
Apartado de Correos 106. La Cala, Mijas Costa. Tel: 952 669 000.
Hotel Mijas(4*). Urbanización
Tamisa, 2. Mijas Pueblo. Tel: 952 486 400.
Hotel Tamisa Golf(4*). Old
road to Coin, Km 3,3. Mijas Costa. Tel: 952 585 988.
Pensión Rancho La Paz.
Torreblanca. Tel: 952 486 793.
Apartahotel Fontana Beach. C/Libra
Riviera del Sol. Mijas Costa. Tel: 952 934 852.
Casa Aloha Beach(1*). Playa El
Chaparral. Mijas Costa. Tel: 952 494 540.
Hotel Mijas. Plaza Virgen de
la Peña. Mijas Pueblo. Tel: 952 493 199.
Hostal Veramar. La Cala, Mijas
Costa. Tel: 952 494 745.
Pensión-Finca Blake (B&B).
Ctra. Mijas-Fuengirola. Tel: 952 590 401.
Pensión Mijas. C/Coín. Mijas
Pueblo. Tel: 952 485 310.
Camping Calazul. La Cala-
Mijas Costa. Tel: 952 493 219.
Camping Los Jarales. Calahonda-
Mijas Costa. Tel: 952 930 003.
Rural
Accommodation in the province of Malaga
(in
Spanish)
|
A street in Mijas
Pueblo |
FIESTAS
There are numerous festivals in Mijas
throughout the year. Apart from the annual summer Feria in honour of the
Virgen de la Peña, which takes place in Mijas Pueblo, there is the
festival in honour of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios (Barrio de Santa
Ana); the romerías of San Antón in January, of Valtocado in April and of
Osunillas in June.
The night of San Juan and Corpus Cristi are
important festivals here too, and one of the most interesting for foreign
residents and visitors is the Día Internacional de los Pueblos, in which
many foreigners take part. La Cala and Las Lagunas have their own
festivals and romerías during the summer months.
GASTRONOMY
The large number of foreign
residents in Mijas has resulted in a cuisine that is truly international,
with restaurants from the five continents in the town. But the most
traditional dishes of the area are similar to those of other small towns
in the region, with plenty of wholesome products from the local soil and
sea. The people of Mijas make excellent pastries too.
THE TORRES VIGIAS
INTERPRETATION
The Torreón in the Cala de
Mijas has been converted recently into a Museum of the Sea and Torres
Vigías Interpretation Centre (in the understanding rather than language
sense). Inside the Torre Batería we can find the Sala de las Torres, the
Sala Torrijos and the Sala de Pesca tradicional (traditional fishing). The
first tells us all about the origin of the towers and the history of coastal
vigilance. The Sala Torrijos shows panels and original material on the
subject of General Torrijos’ landing on the beach at Charcón, in Mijas.
The Sala de Pesca Tradicional is all about fishing at La Cala, and here we
can see how the industry developed from the distant past to the present day,
along with related activities. Another interesting part of this tower is the
rooftop, from were one can see the towers of Calaburra and Calahonda by
means of a visor installed on the roof.
|
