It doesn’t take a compulsive shopper or spendthrift to succumb to the vast commercial offer that makes the Costa del Sol a world standard in the field of shopping tourism. 

Málaga, with more than thirty shopping centres, commercial parks and other large commercial outlets distributed throughout its territory, not to mention countless shops displaying everything from traditional handicrafts to the most exclusive items from prestigious international companies, offers the visitor the opportunity to wander among an assortment of establishments capable of satisfying the most diverse demands while maintaining a price-to-quality ratio that astonishes natives and outsiders alike.

Over the last several decades retail commerce has become, with good reason, one of the largest sectors of the Costa del Sol economy and a valuable addition to the tourism offer. It has come to be a powerful attraction to travellers who consider shopping to be an indispensable vacation activity.

No matter what municipality the visitor selects for his stay or what route he chooses to follow while on the Costa del Sol he will find his way lined by a network of businesses as varied as they are diverse, adaptable to any budget, requirement or motivation. Each year it is the large department stores and shopping centres, most of them in the principal coastal communities, that are most visited by a public eager to acquire a wide range of products. In this respect the city of Málaga is noteworthy for its share of this market. 

Besides having the largest number of establishments of this type in the province it is currently contributing to incredible growth in commercial activity spurred by the development of large projects for commercial venues that are unique in the region, many of them specialising in the sale of items and merchandise in such specific fields as furniture, gardening, automotives, textiles or domestic electric appliances, among many others. New macro-centres devoted to the consumer market have also flourished in this city, with the appearance of extensive commercial developments in which leisure and entertainment play an important part. 

Visitors can thus find, along with shops, a wide array of restaurants and cafés, children’s parks, multi-cinemas, hairdresser shops, beauty salons, recreation rooms and bowling alleys, and in some cases even gymnasiums, discotheques and solariums.

Antequera and Coín, in the interior of the province, Rincón de la Victoria and Vélez Málaga on the eastern edge of the littoral and Torremolinos, Benalmádena, Fuengirola, Mijas and Estepona on the western Costa del Sol are some of the other main examples of shopping tourism in this province.