Torremolinos () 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 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 .
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 enjoys one of the best climates in Europe. It 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 in the summer and in the winter. Torremolinos sometimes experiences a sea fog that goes as quickly as it appears.
The beach, which extends for nearly , 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 under the flight path of the airport.
In addition to its tourism sector, Torremolinos is known locally for its vibrant and liberal nightlife, particularly its numerous bars and clubs catering to the LGBT community. Torremolinos co-hosted World Pride in 2017 in conjunction with Madrid and holds its own Pride in June, now the third largest in Spain.
History
Archaeological finds, including human and animal bones, tools, and pottery prove that the Torremolinos area was settled as early as the Neolithic Age. Some artifacts and tools are Neanderthal in origin, dated to nearly 150,000 years ago through radiocarbon dating.
According to the Egyptian Greek geographer Ptolemy, the Phoenicians had founded here a colony named Saduce, but the Romans are the most likely to have founded the current town, as shown by findings of edifices and a necropolis (from whose size it has been deduced that the settlement had around 2,000 inhabitants). They also built the road joining Cadiz with Málaga, passing through Torremolinos.
With the Moorish conquest of Spain, the mills, from which the town takes its name (meaning "Tower of the Mills"), were introduced. However, at the time the population was reduced; the tower was built by the Nasrid rulers of Granada starting from 1300. After the fall of Granada, the town remained subject to North African pirate attacks which lasted from the 18th century; during the War of Spanish Succession, the town was attacked by an Anglo-Dutch flotilla under the British admiral George Rooke and almost entirely destroyed. A document dated 1769 lists a town population of 106.
The mills and the city were rebuilt in the early 20th century, but the mill industry started to decline in the 1920s. It was largely replaced by an increasing tourist interest from 1928, particularly British visitors. Hotel Pez Espada opened in 1960. The first gay bar in Spain, Toni's Bar, was founded in Torremolinos in 1962. The Spanish regime reacted to the free lifestyle of the city with arrests of homosexuals and other repressions during the 1970s.