Mijas

What to See in Mijas

The moment he arrives in Mijas Pueblo the visitor will be aware of an Oriental market atmosphere emanating from the numerous shops that occupy the entire historic quarter. This comes not from the articles for sale –or only partly from that– but from the effect of the installation of small businesses on the narrow streets of the village. In addition to this multicoloured conglomeration he will notice the constant traffic through the alleys and small squares of the famous "burro-taxis" (donkeys rented for transportation), one of Mijas’ best-known, and most effective, tourist attractions. Actually, you cannot leave Mijas without a donkey ride. These peculiar means of transportation started to be used in the 1960s, when holidaymakers in Mijas asked workers who were coming home from the countryside alongside their donkeys and mules to let them take pictures to keep them as a way to capture a special moment in their Andalusian holidays. Some tourists even asked rural workers to let them take a ride in exchange for a generous tip, which more often than not was higher than their wages. The workers started thus to spend more time taking visitors on their donkeys. The "burro-taxi" has become an icon of Mijas. There are some fifty of them. They even have special parking areas on La Peña Avenue. For more information, tourists can call (+34) 627 026 958.

The chapel of Virgen de la Peña is not remarkable for its artistic merit but it is the place where the patroness of the locality is venerated and therefore a centre of devotion in the village. It was carved out of the rock by Mercedarian friars in the seventeenth century. Tradition has it that the image of this Virgin was found in the walls of the ancient castle in the last third of the sixteenth century, where it had been hidden eight centuries earlier so that it would not fall into the hands of the Muslims. On the chapel’s esplanade there are manicured gardens that open onto a viewing point that commands a very wide view not only of Mijas and Fuengirola but also of a large part of the Costa del Sol.

It was built on an esplanade of a hill where first stood a castle and later a mosque. The interior is divided into three naves, and the central one still has its Mudéjar coffered ceiling. In the opinion of some writers the square tower well may be from the ancient fortress.playas@mijas.es

The San Antón chapel lies in the rural district of Osunillas. According to certain documents kept in Málaga Cathedral, in 1494 there was a fraternity of San Antón in Mijas. The church, from the eighteenth century, stands between the two Osunillas, next to the ruins of ancient Tmaisa, of Tartessian origins. There is a stone that reads, "Mijas was founded by Tartessian people in 600 BC, next to the chapel of San Antón. Only some sections of the wall remain." The chapel was erected to fulfil a promise made by some sailors who were about to be involved in a shipwreck. The chapel was rebuilt and opened its doors on July 5, 1981. You can get to it by way of the road that connects Mijas with Benalmádena. The chapel is very popular. It is here that Saint Anthony’s feast is held on January 17, with the traditional blessing of animals, and Saint Blaise’s too, on February 3, with the blessing of the pastries called "rosquillas de San Blas" in Spanish. The views of the Costa del Sol from the San Antón chapel are just fabulous.

The original Plaza de Toros (Bullring) breaks with all the archaeological canons that customarily apply in this type of construction. It is in the area of La Muralla, over the rock, and has an oval ring and quadrangular exterior. There are ceramics on its walls commemorating the fights of some of the best matadors to have performed there, such as Paquirri, Palomo Linares, Niño de la Capea and Angel Teruel. It was built in 1900.

The Carromato de Max Museum on Avenida del Compás (Tel.: (+34) 952 589 034) is considered to be the best museum of miniatures in the world. Among its most representative items are the Lord’s Prayer written on the edge of a calling card and a "portrait" of Abraham Lincoln on the head of a pin. This funny museum focuses on the collection of Juan Elegido Millán, a hypnotist also known as Professor Max. The miniatures are made from a wide variety of materials such as chalk, soap, pins, breadcrumb, toothpicks, and drawing pins. Plus, the Carromato de Max Museum contains a number of highly unusual items like a white man’s head shrunk and preserved by the Jibaro tribe, a group of dissected fleas wearing clothes, a copy of the Last Supper on a rice grain, and so forth. For museum-goers to be able of viewing the magnificence of the collection the museum has magnifying glasses and other lenses.

The Casa Museo (House Museum, Plaza de la Libertad, telephone: (+34)952 590 380) opened to the public in 1995 and houses agricultural gear and traditional tools that take the visitor back to what was until relatively recent times the peasant lifestyle of the area. The first floor of the building is devoted to temporary plastic arts exhibitions.

In La Cala de Mijas there is the Watchtowers Visitor Centre, which is home to the local Tourism Office too. This information centre has revitalised the Tower of La Cala, which had been refurbished to house the museum which is aimed at explaining and describing the series of coastal watchtowers that stand along the coastline in Mijas. This is a landmark, a tourist attraction that is used by schools as well to learn about two historic events. The Room of the Watchtowers shows a description of the origins of the coastal defence structures in the region, the materials used in their construction, a documentary on defence systems, a scale model of the four towers that used to stand in Mijas, historical texts, and digital archives. In the Torrijos Room visitors will be able to learn on a historic event: General Torrijos’s landing on Charcón beach on December 2, 1831 in an attempt to defend the law. The story of General Torrijos and his men on their journey to Alhaurín de la Torre and their subsequent arrest and execution on San Andrés beach without trial is told in a series of notes and posters. The room dedicated to traditional fishing exhibits a collection of tools, fishing smacks, sardine fishing boats and more types of boats used in the past to catch fish. It also explains the different kinds of fishing equipment and techniques. The Watchtowers Visitor Centre is on Torreón Street, La Cala de Mijas. Museum hours: Sat, Sun and holidays, 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. and 4:00-7:00 p.m. (winter). Tue-Sun, 10:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m. and 8:00-11:00 p.m. (summer). Admission is free. Telephone: (+34) 952 590 380.

The San Sebastián church, in Plaza de la Libertad, was built in the late seventeenth century and funds (12 reales per person) were raised in 1674. The decorative plaster in the interior was made in the same workshop that made the chapel and crypt of La Victoria convent in Málaga. The façade is divided into three sections, with the belfry in the foreground. The bells and the clock were set up in 1902.

The Nuestra Señora de los Remedios church, also known as the Santa Ana church, was built in the early eighteenth century on the foundations of a former chapel. The church has only one nave, a raised choir, and the presbytery is based on a quadrangular floor plan. The exterior of the church features a belfry and round arches supported by pillars.

Mijas

has a 12-kilometre long stretch of sand, with beaches that have been awarded the European Blue Flag many times for the quality of their sand and water and the services they offer. Calahonda beach is divided into many sections, from crowded ones with some homes and beach bars to the unspoiled ones with plenty of wild greens. The beach can be accessed by way of a wooden walkway and is perfect to go diving and fishing. This is a narrow beach, 4.5 kilometres in length, with an irregular shoreline. The rocky cliff dropping into the sea on Cabo beach marks the border between Calahonda and Cala del Moral. This long 110-metre-long beach is next to Playa Marina estate and welcomes windsurfing, sailing and diving enthusiasts. El Bombo beach looks onto the southeast and is longer –320 metres long– and quite wide too. Next there comes a rocky cliff that makes the place a perfect spot to engage in scuba diving. This is the westernmost beach in Cala del Moral but there are more: Butiplaya, La Cala or Las Doradas, El Charcón (the beach that witnessed General Torrijos’s landing), El Faro, El Cura and El Egido. For more info on the beaches in Mijas, write an email to