Costa del Sol

The coastal towns and communities in the western part of Malaga province in Spain, in the autonomous region of Andalusia. It consists of the area west of the city of Malaga and east of the border with Cadiz province, along the Mediterranean. It includes the towns of Torremolinos, Benalmadena, Fuengirola, Mijas, Marbella, San Pedro de Alcantara, Puerto Banus and Estepona. The area was ruled by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Visigoths and Moors, before the Reconquista. Traditionally poor fishing villages, the area was discovered for international tourism in the 1950s.