Fuengirola

Fuengirola is a town and municipality on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain in the province of Málaga and the autonomous community of Andalucia. It is a major tourist resort on the Costa del Sol, with more than 8 km of beaches, and home to a mediaeval Moorish fortress.
The area enjoys a subotropical Mediterranean climate, with annual average temperatures of 18 ºC.

History
The town has its origins in Phoenicia, Roman and Arab civilisations.

The foothills of the mountain range behind the town to the south are the site of an Arab castle, which contains remains of an early Ibero-punic or Phoenician settlement, later occupied by the Romans, which became a town known in antiquity as Suel. Suel was identified by the Roman historian, Pomponius Mela, as one of the towns of the coast, and was cited by Pliny in the 1st century A.D. as a fortified town (oppidum). A later historian, Ptolemy, identified it during the 2nd century A.D. as being located in the region of the bastulo-penos or Phoenicians.

The inscription on the pedestal of a statue found near the castle mentions Suel as being a Roman "municipium". A funeral urn found in the same area has an inscription containing the word "Suelitana". Roman baths were discovered in 1961 and, close by, the remains of a Roman villa containing two sculptures, one of which is the well known "Venus of Fuengirola" exhibited in the town's museum. A series of architectural components, probably transported from the Mijas quarry during the Roman era, were discovered in Los Boliches in 1984; these have now been mounted to form a temple entrance, and can be seen on the promenade at Los Boliches.

The castle was built by Abderramán III in the mid-10th century. The city of Suel ceased to be mentioned at the beginning of the Middle Ages. After several centuries, the name of the settlement changed from Suel to Suhayl, which became the name of the castle and surroundings during the Arab occupation. Suhayl became a fairly large settlement, which included farmland and small villages. Most of the area seems to have been used as pasture for the Moorish rulers' camels.

But in the early Middle Ages the town was set on fire and its inhabitants fled to Mijas. Suhayl became a mound of ruins, and even its name was changed to the Romanised Font-Jirola, after the spring arising at the foot of the castle, according to historian Alonso de Palencia.

In 1485, when only the fortress remained, the settlement was reconquered by the Christian Monarchs. An attempt to repopulate the site with 30 people failed, and in 1511 it was registered as uninhabited, apart from the fortress and a watchtower. Land originally set aside for Fuengirola was reallocated to Mijas.

In the 17th century, a new urban settlement developed, once the threat from Turkish and Moroccan pirates disappeared, and at the beginning of the 18th century, an inn was opened near the beach, offering accommodation to travellers, muleteers and seafarers. A few huts were built nearby, forming a small village.

The Battle of Fuengirola took place in the area during the Peninsular War, on October 15, 1810, when approximately 200 Polish soldiers of the Ducky of Warsaw defeated a mixed British-Spanish force numbering some 3,000 soldiers under Lord Blayney.

In May 1841, Fuengirola was detached from Mijas; at the time its inhabitants were mainly engaged in fishing, agriculture and trading with ships that dropped anchor in the bay. For over a century, fishing and agriculture remained the main activities.

It was only in the 1960s that Fuengirola entered a new phase, to become a leading tourist centre.

Modern Fuengirola
Fuengirola now offers all the facilities to be expected of a major tourist centre - hotels, restaurants, bars, discotheques, sports clubs, a yacht harbour, and broad beaches along a promenade extending east and west from the town, that includes smaller adjacent villages.

Of the approximately 60,000 inhabitants registered in the municipality, 25% come from other countries, mainly European (United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland and Sweden, among others), and also from Morocco and Argentina. In the summer especially, the town plays host to throngs of visitors both Spanish and foreign, but in particular British. The English community in particular is large enough to support a fully developed programme of activities and local groups.

Fuengirola Zoo is well known. Once an old-fashioned collection of cramped cages, the zoo was modernized in 2001 to feature "tropical-forest" dwellings. The zoo specializes in captive breeding for endangered species, chimpanzee-group research and tropical-forest education.

Although Fuengirola is a comparatively developed resort it does also have a number of historical sites and open parks. The old port is still used by the local Spanish fisherman. The Arab castle of Suhayl, or Sohail, remained an abandoned ruin until renovations began in 1995. In 2000 the interior of the castle was completely renovated and the Sohail castle begun to host festivals and concerts throughout the summer. Additional landscaping was completed in 2002 and the castle is now one of the highlights of Fuengirola's cultural and historical scene.

The town is largely urban in character, with many high-rise blocks - many towards the sea-front - although some narrow streets can be found with many low-rise villas. Considerable commercial development is underway further inland, towards to the north of the town, with the recent construction of a large shopping centre and retail park and ongoing development of housing areas.

Sights in Fuengirola
Sohail Castle (Arabic castle)
Harbour
Plaza de Toros (bullring)
Zoologico de Fuengirola (zoo)