Impressions of Torremolinos

Sometimes you read or hear about places and form a certain preconceived opinion. That was the case with Torremolinos.

Torremolinos was the first stop on our trip along the Costa del Sol west of Malaga (a trip that would see us also visit Benalmádena, Fuengirola, Mijas, Marbella and Estepona).

We had an idea of what to expect from Torremolinos.

For good or for bad, Torremolinos was pretty much as expected.

A legendary beach destination

It’s hard to believe that Torremolinos was a simple fishing village back in the 1950’s. Because of its proximity to Malaga, it was the first town on the Costa del Sol to be built up as a beach resort. Celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Grace Kelly, Eva Gardner, Orson Welles and Salvador Dali would come here (Dali’s wife Gala was reportedly the first woman to go topless on the beaches of Torremolinos. There’s a statue dedicated to that on the boardwalk). The town was used as a filming location for many sexy comedies that enhanced Torremolinos’ reputation. In 1964 Frank Sinatra was arrested and fined after a brawl involving a journalist and a female Cuban singer. Torremolinos was that kind of place.

The town’s reputation had soured by the 1980’s. It was the poster child for the overdevelopment that you see all over the Costa del Sol today. Brits would come here on cheap, all-inclusive holidays to get drunk and start trouble. It lost its reputation as a trendy, sexy summer destination to places like Ibiza and Mallorca. Torremolinos became stale and outdated.

Rough Guide described Torremolinos this way as recently as 2007: “The approach to Torremolinos – an easy thirty-minute ride on the electric train (cercanía) from Malaga – is a rather depressing business. There are half-a-dozen beaches, but it´s a drab soulless landscape of kitchenette apartments, new urbanizations and half-finished developments ”….“to its enduring credit it certainly is different: a vast, grotesque parody of a seaside resort….”

Ouch!

A short video showing off Torremolinos

Torremolinos Today

Today Torremolinos is the most visited resort on the Costa del Sol. The town has reportedly invested a lot of money in recent years revamping itself as a family friendly beach resort; it has Aqualand (the largest water park on the Costa del Sol) and Crocodile park (right next to Aqualand). There is a mini-putt in the center of town. Nearby Benalmádena has Selwo Marina, SEA LIFE, and Benalmádena’s cable car (which takes you up Calamorro Mountain). So the area has lot of activities for kids.

Torremolinos also has a lot of activities for adults: water sports, golf and eating/drinking. It is still well know for its nightlife.

Our experiences and impressions

Our first impressions with Torremolinos started with a walk along the promenade from Benalmádena (yes, you can walk this whole stretch of coastline!).

Passing Benalmádena’s Marina (“the best Marina in the world” according to the people running Benalmádena), your introduction to Torremolinos is La Carihuela. Over 2km long, it is a beautiful stretch of manicured beaches, upscale chiringuitos (seaside restaurants) and a large and wide promenade where people walk and jog. If you love beaches and your idea of a holiday is sitting somewhere, enjoying the sun and people-watching, then La Carihuela is perfect. We just couldn’t get over just the sheer quantity of non-stop restaurants, bars and cafés lining this promenade.

After taking an inland excursion to Parque de la Bateria (which I’ll get into later), we continued on the wide La Carihuela promenade until it took us around the headland (“el Morro”), a rocky promontory that juts into the sea, that divides La Carihuela from the center of Torremolinos. Nice views from here.

The beaches around the center of town are nowhere near as impressive as La Carihuela. The promenade isn’t as wide and the restaurants not as numerous. There are fewer people.

People have figured out that La Carihuela is the place to go for beaches in Torremolinos. As I say, it’s quite spectacular if you enjoy a bustling beach environment.

Above: the Tourist Map I picked up at the tourist office. I made it clickable, so you can click on it to enlarge

Highlights other than beaches

We visited many of the highlights that we read about elsewhere.

La Bateria Park

As mentioned above, we took an inland incursion from La Carihuela to get to La Bateria park. It’s an approximately 20-minute walk uphill.

La Bateria is a pretty park with fountains, a lake and a mirador where you get 360 views of Torremolinos.

It’s a nice park but if you’re expecting something like Parque de la Paloma (in Benalmádena) you’ll be disappointed.

Is it worth visiting? If you have a car or if you’re a few days in Torremolinos, then I’d say yes. The views from the mirador are impressive. But if you’re here for a short stay I’d say that an uphill walk in the hot sun is not worth your while.

Casa de los Navajas

In the center of town is this home built by a rich family in 1926. It was built in Moorish style and is quite beautiful, a gem among the architectural ugliness that is Torremolinos.

Is it worth visiting? If staying in Torremolinos then it’s worth visiting. I’m not going to tell you that you’ll be blown away…but it’s pretty, it’s free and it’s a piece of history.

The Old Town

The center of the Old Town is perched above the El Bajondillo area. It requires walking up a series of steps. There’s an elevator for those with mobility issues (see the map above. The elevator is near the tourist office where I picked up the map that I attached further up).

The highlight is the tower for which Torremolinos was named. Torre de los Molinos (Tower of the Mills) was later renamed Torre de Pimentel which is what it’s known as today.

Within a few feet of the tower you’ll find Iglesia San Miguel (built in 1718).

Just a few feet from that you’ll find Calle San Miguel, the main commercial street where you’ll see banks, stores and restaurants.

I’ll be honest: if you’ve visited other Spanish towns you might find Torremolinos to have one of the least attractive town centers you’ve experienced.

Walk a few blocks up Calle San Miguel. You’ll get to a huge square called Plaza de la Nogalera. It’s here that you’ll find the train station that takes you to Malaga airport and Malaga (in one direction) and Benalmádena and Fuengirola (in the other). So the train station is literally in the center of town.

Honest thoughts on Torremolinos

Torremolinos could be a beach anywhere in the world. If someone dropped you here and you didn’t know where you were, you probably wouldn’t figure it out on first inspection. The people around you would mostly speak English but you’d also hear French, Dutch, German, Russian, Punjabi, Arabic and a multitude of other languages. Signs are in English and, if you look closer, in Spanish. Torremolinos is just about as non-Spanish as you can get in Spain.

Torremolinos is not very attractive and you don’t come here for the sights…UNLESS you like beaches. Like I said, the beaches and promenade in La Carihuela are fantastic. If you just want a place to relax, eat and drink, and watch the world go by then Torremolinos fits the bill. It’s a great beach destination (and I can also see why beach and entertainment-loving expats would want to live in Torremolinos).

Would we visit Torremolinos again?

Torremolinos will never be our kind of place. But we would come back for one reason – I think Torremolinos would be a great place to visit as a quick stop before taking a flight out of Malaga airport. I’ve previously mentioned my struggles finding a nice, affordable hotel in Malaga city for a night (which we’ve had to do when we have early morning flights). Why not use Torremolinos instead? It’s a 10 minutes from the airport by taxi or train, there’s a multitude of hotel rooms at affordable rates, and there are lots of restaurants to choose from. It’s a fun place with lots going on. And what’s better before a long flight than sitting on a beach and having a margarita?