In 1502 it came under the rule of Málaga with the
name of Torres de Pimentel (the towers of Pimentel, in honour
of Rodrigo Pimentel, Count of Benavente to whom most of
the lands were given in thanks for his cooperation with
horses and food , during the siege of Málaga.
In 1849 el Madoz published : “ Torremolinos is a
place with a town hall, belonging to the province, judicial
district and dioceses of Málaga, two leagues from
the capital: Terrotorial Audience and General Captainship
of Granada. Due to its location at the foothills of the
Mijas mountains and at rifle shot distance from the sea,
it has a healthy climate only with seasonal common illnesses.
It has 234 houses, one square room used as jail, and an
elementary school with 44 pupils, with an annual allotment
of 1.100 reales plus 300 more for material and a private
school sustained by the 14 girls attending it; a parochial
church San Miguel, a cementery with 6 burial chambers belonging
to the Hermandad de las Animas and 8 belonging to local
people and last an abundant spring, whose waters are used
for human consumption, movement of mills and for irrigation.
From the peaceful agricultural, fishing and flour producing
Andalusian village of 3.000 inhabitants that Torremolinos
used to be in 1920, Torremolinos has grown into the world-known
touristic town, that in high season houses more than 250.000
tourists, placing it ahead of more than 35 Spanish province
capitals in number of inhabitants.
Torremolinos remained an independent municipality until
1924, when it became part of Malaga until a popular movement
promoted by the Proautonomy Council of Torremolinos, reigned
its independence, constituting the municipality of Torremolinos
on September 27, 1988.
At the end of the 50´s when the tourist boom began
the small town composed of a downtown area around San Miguel
street and the El Calvario, Bajondillo and La Carihuela
neighbourhoods, began its urban and economical take off
to become the number one touristic municipality of Andalusia
and one of the most important at national and international
level.
