Fuengirola, Costa del Sol, Andalucia, Spain

Fuengirola is popular for its miles of sandy beaches that stretch along past Mijas Costa to the west and Benalmadena to the east. The coastline flanked by high-rise hotels and residential blocks of apartments built during the package holiday boom of the 60's and 70's and all enjoy views of the Mediterranean and sweeping coastline. The beaches known as Gaviotas, Boliches and Torreblanca hold a European blue flag.

Fuengirola is particularly popular with Spanish nationals, many of whom own summer apartments here. There are also a considerable percentage of British and other nationalities with the result being an impressively wide variety of entertainment. Recently, there has been a drive to ensure all signage in pubs and restaurants in Spanish as well as English, such is the level of foreign ownership.

In addition to the usual resort activity, Fuengirola has an attractive castle, the Parque del Castillo, overlooking the coast, a large marina, a zoo and very popular weekly market that draws in thousands of people from nearby towns and cities. It is also the last stop on the coastal railway line west of Malaga making it easy to get to and from Malaga city centre, the airport, Benalmadena, Torremolinos and inland areas such as Cartama and Alora.

The town has been boosted with the construction of the huge Parque Miramar shopping center and multi screen cinema. it is very close (within walking distance) to the popular Dunnes store creating a large out of town shopping district in itself. Miramar Parque shopping centre has a large free underground car park and shops include Benetton, Jack Jones, Timberland, Zara, Golf USA and the Eroski hypermarket which is a shopping centre in its own right. Internet access is also available opposite Eroski. There is now a bridge running under the motorway the allows you to walk from the Parque Miramar shopping center to the beach in just few minutes. Further along at the next junction is the huge new El Corte Inglés department store, as large as any John Lewis store in the UK and very similar in what they sell.