Location/Surrounding Area
The villa is situated 20 minutes inland from Malaga airport in an area known as Las Lomas, between Alhaurin El Grande and Coin. From its hilltop location in the Sierra De Mijas the villa enjoys spectacular views across the Guadalhorce valley and the Andalucia countryside down to the coast at Malaga. Its position is marked on the map below. (In order to use the map controls Javascript should be enabled).
Local Area
The towns of Alhaurin El Grande and Coin are both a five minute drive from the villa. Alhaurin has a population of around 20,000 and whilst retaining a typically Spanish feel has benefited greatly from improvements in infrastructure and facilities over recent years. It has supermarkets, restaurants, a health centre and a newly opened leisure centre containing a large indoor pool.
Being only 20 minutes from the airport and the coast Alhaurin has a thriving foreign resident population and there are many businesses which cater to these residents including a high quality English butcher, three shops which sell English greetings cards, a bed linen shop, a fish and chip shop and two English food stores. It also boasts both a German and a Belgian bakery. To discover a little of the history of the town please see Alhaurin El Grande.
Coin also has a good selection of restaurants including Indian, Chinese and Italian. The recently opened shopping centre of 'La Trocha' contains a large supermarket, a branch of Dunnes for homeware and clothing, and a multiscreen cinema.
Coastal area
As previously mentioned the villa is only 20 minutes from Malaga airport and 10 minutes more will take you into Malaga city itself with its Moorish architecture, including the Alcazaba (middle photo below) and Gibralfaro Castle, and busy nightlife located mainly in the old part of the city around the cathedral (right photo). Malaga also houses the Picasso museum and 'Theatre Cervantes' - which attracts international artists from the worlds of music, theatre and dance.
Moving west along the coast the well-known resorts of Torremolinos and Fuengirola are both within 20 minutes of the villa as are Marbella and Puerto Banus where the rich and famous come to shop and party. Further west, Gibraltar is an hour and 15 minutes drive from the villa for all things British. East of Malaga the town of Nerja has wonderful ancient caves (left photo above) containing spectacular stalagmites/stalactites in addition to Palaeolithic cave paintings. For more information see: Nerja caves.
Leisure
With its hilltop location the villa is ideally situated to appreciate the surrounding nature. Country walks, mountain biking and horse riding can all be enjoyed in the immediate vicinity and further a field Andalucia contains areas of outstanding natural beauty. These include the Nature Park Reserve at El Torcal with spectacular rock formations and the lakes at El Chorro (photo below) where kayaking, canooing and other water-based activities can be pursued.
The villa is also very close to the golf courses at Mijas Golf and Alhaurin Golf, the latter including courses designed by the world famous Spanish golfer Severiano Ballesteros. Skiing takes place in the winter months at Europe's most southerly ski resort in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The resort is one and a half hours drive from the villa and contains the highest mountain in Spain, the Mulhacen at 3,479 metres.
Useful Links
Andalucia.com - Information about all things related to Andalucia.
Weather Online - Offers forecasts for Malaga and surrounding area as well as previous years temperature/rainfall/hours of sunshine etc.