The Costa Del Sol or ‘Sun coast’ is a region on the Meditteranean coast of Spain, and is a perrenial favourite for Costa Del Sol holidays, particularly, Costa Del Sol package deals. It sits in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is situated between Costa de la Luzor’ coast of light’ and the coastline of Granada.
The regions includes the city of Malaga with the towns of Torremolinos, Marbella, Benalmedina, Fuengirola and Puerto Banus - all very popular package deal destinations.
Typical to many Meditteranean regions and islands settlement has changed hands. From Phoenicians, Carthginians, Romans, Vandals, Visigoths and moors.
The regions only city Malaga was founded by the Phoenicians BCE 1000 and is probably derived from the Phoenician word for ’salt’. The Romans left a 1st century theatre which still can be seen today in a ruinous state. The Moors left a castle on mount Gibralfaro. Another tourist attraction is the church of Santiago (St. James) which is a manifestation of Gothic-Mudejar style.
Marbella is still seen as attracting wealthy tourists from the UK, Ireland and Germany on their Costa Del Sol holidays. The name Marbella is most probably derived from when the time the Moors settled the region as part of Islamic Spain. The spaniards reconquered the city in 1485. Some tourist attractions in the city include Salvador Dali’s sculpture of a horse and rider, the playa de la Bajadilla beach and the Playa de fontanila beach. Facilities include the La canada shopping centre, Laguna Village, Passion cafe and La cala Golf club.
Torremolinos was a poor fishing village before it became one of the Meditteraneans most popular destinations for package holiday makers. It is very popular with the British and has a large British expatriate population.
Benalmedina is another resort with beaches and is famous for its Enlightenment stupa. It is the largest Buddhist monument of this sort in Europe. The stupa monument represents peace, prosperity and harmony. It is also a place for meditation. It is a huge 33m high and was inaugurated in 2003.
Fuengirola has more than 8km of beaches and is home to a medieval Moorish fortress on top of an earlier Phoenician settlement. Of the 60,000 permanent inhabitants over 25% are from Britain and other countries giving the town a cosmopolitan feel. The town also has a Zoo which specializes in chimpanzee research.
With it’s relative proximity to the UK, as well as sun, sea, culture and history, Costa Del Sol package deals sure to please.