The Costa del Sol (literally "sun coast") is a long stretch of Mediterranean coastline in the Andalucia region of southern Spain.

Cities

• Benalmádena, including the center of Arroyo de la Miel
• Elviria
• Estepona
• Fuengirola
• Guadalmina
• Malaga
• Marbella
• Mijas
• Ojén
• Puerto Banús
• Torremolinos

The seaside of Axarquía (such as Nerja and Torrox) is sometimes known as the "Eastern Costa del Sol" (Costa del Sol Oriental).

Understand

The Costa del Sol stretches for over 150 km, for 54 km east of Malaga, and as far as the provincial border of Cadiz, some 100 km south west of the city.

The eastern Costa is highly developed, but not nearly as much so as the south western part, which has been constantly developed and redeveloped since the 1960s and is geared wholly towards international tourism.

The Costa del Sol is on the Mediterranean sea, and the average water temperature is 18ºC (24ºC in August).

Talk

As with most of the rest of Spain, Spanish is the main language. However, as the Costa del Sol is Spain's most popular tourist attraction, you'll find people fluent in several different languages working in the main beach resorts, particularly during the summer. Languages commonly spoken in the resorts include French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian and of course, English.

Nevertheless, knowledge of Spanish is still useful as beyond the beach resorts, as well as during the off-season (i.e. winter), it is rare to find any locals who speak foreign languages.

Get in

Malaga international airport services the Costa del Sol. Buses and trains run very frequently from here to every destination along the Costa. Trains are operated by Renfe, buses to Malaga by EMT and to most cities elsewhere in the region by Avanzabus. Tickets for the intercity buses can be bought online or at the booth right outside the arrivals terminal exit but not on the bus. You may need to stand in a long line for buying tickets if it's a busy day. From the ticket booth, continue straight ahead to the bus stop.

The A7 (nicknamed the "road of death" due to the high number of accidents that occur on it each year) runs the length of Spain's south coast.

See

• Miles and miles of beaches.
• Tivoli World theme park.
• The aqua parks in Mijas and Torremolinos.

Sleep

• 1 Casa La Palmera (Parque Natural Cabo de Gata), Rodalquilar (Nijar), ☏ +34 692 113 383, casa.la.palmera@gmail.com.