History of Torremolinos, Spain tourist guide

Torremolinos History

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.