Benalmádena

Benalmádena’s Fiestas and Gastronomy

Benalmádena’s festive calendar is ample enough to satisfy all tastes and interests, and includes every sort of event ranging from what might be called highly cultured to the most participatory and popular, from sports to verbenas (traditional street parties), and from religious to the purely entertaining.

The Corpus Christi celebration is especially important. On this date the village streets, through which the procession passes, become flowered carpets that compete in colourfulness with the decorated balconies. The Semana Santa (Holy Week) is another of the most noteworthy celebrations of a religious nature. During those days, in addition to the processions in both Benalmádena Pueblo and Arroyo de la Miel, the El Paso enactment is presented, in which nearly 200 persons participate. They will become actors on Holy Thursday and Good Friday for the two hours duration of the presentation, which is produced on a natural stage near the village.

The San Juan festivities in June are celebrated in Arroyo de la Miel with numerous activities of all types, as is the Veladilla del Carmen (Del Carmen evening musical programme) in mid-June in tribute to the region’s seafaring tradition.

The Virgen de la Cruz patron saint fiestas in mid-August also have very strong traditional roots.

As far as gastronomy is concerned, it is rather daring to single out a typical local dish given the internationalisation that has occurred in the municipality over the last several decades with the resultant, enormously varied, cuisine. Nevertheless, being the coastal region that this is, the famous "pescaíto" (small fried fish), which can be enjoyed in any beach bar and in many restaurants, along with the traditional gazpacho (a chilled soup), constitutes one of the identifying features of this municipality’s cuisine.