Torremolinos

Torremolinos (Spanish pronunciation: [toremoˈlinos]) is a municipality in Andalusia, southern Spain, west of Málaga. A poor fishing village before the growth in tourism began in the late 1950s, Torremolinos was the first of the Costa del Sol resorts to be developed and is still the most popular in the region. On the western shore of the Bay of Málaga and in front of the Sierra de Mijas 13 km (8 miles) from Málaga, it is served by the A-7 motorway, which bypasses the city to the north, the Cercanías commuter train and Avanzabus. In 2013, it had 69,389 inhabitants, making it the sixth largest city in the province. The township has an area of 20 km2 (7.7 sq mi). Areas of the town are dotted with older high-rise residential buildings and hotels, but height limitations on new developments and a significant number of original old town properties have kept the town centre much more open than other popular resorts such as Benidorm and Fuengirola. As the name Coast of the Sun implies, Torremolinos has long, dry summers with relatively low humidity, and mild winters with occasional, though heavy, rainfall. The town benefits in the summer from cool sea breezes predominantly coming from Africa, although this does mean a fair amount of Sahara dust. Temperatures normally hover around 30 °C (86 °F) in the summer and 17–19 °C (63–66 °F) in the winter. Torremolinos sometimes experiences a sea fog that goes as quickly as it appears. The beach, which extends for nearly eight kilometres (five miles), has cycle and skating lanes alongside the fully illuminated promenade and features many chiringuitos (beach bars/restaurants). The eastern end of the beach, known as Los Álamos, has live dance music events throughout the summer. The easternmost parts of the beach have kitesurfing and windsurfing except...