Fuengirola´s origins date back to Mediterranean civilizations such as the Phoenicians and Romans, who settled at the foot of the hill where today stands the Islamic castle Sohail.
Its coastal position, the same as numerous neighbouring towns, attracted man since remote times. It is thought that its founders were the Phoenicians, who baptized her with the name Suel. With the arrival of the Romans, it acquired great relevance, acquiring the category of city federated to Rome, which allowed it to maintain its own legislation and institutions.
The Arabs renamed it Sohail and it is not until the Eighteenth Century when it receives the name of Fuengirola, derived from the word girola, which designated the Genoes ships dedicated to fishing, whose presence was very important as a supply centre for those ships heading towards the Straits of Gibraltar.
