Costa del Sol
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Costa del Sol is a region which comprises the coastal towns and communities in the Málaga province, along the Mediterranean coastline. It is in the south of Spain, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. The name translates as "Sunny Coast" [1] in English. Formerly a series of quiet fishing settlements, the region has been completely transformed in the latter part of the 20th century into a tourist destination of world renown, with a near-continuous urban agglomeration of settlements and resorts running along the length of the coastline.
It includes the towns of Málaga, Torremolinos, Benalmádena, Fuengirola, Mijas, Marbella, San Pedro de Alcántara, Vélez-Málaga, Nerja, Torrox, Puerto Banús and Estepona.
Settlement in the region dates back to the Bronze Age, and it has been alternatively ruled by many cultures such as the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Visigoths and Moors, before the Reconquista.
Traditionally composed of fishing villages, the area was discovered for international tourism in the 1950s and has since been a popular destination for foreign tourists not only for its beaches, but also its tourist culture.
In recent years the Costa Del Sol has become known to golf enthusiasts as the 'Costa Del Golf' due to the vast number of high quality golf courses in the area. Attracting golfers from all over Europe and indeed the world, the area has benefitted from an increase in tourism and is seeing an increasing number of new complexes being developed to house the growing number of keen golfers in the area.
The area is heavily urbanised, with a thick ribbon of densely-packed buildings running along most of the coast. Architectural styles are a mixture of low-rise, whitewashed villas and much high-rise development, especially among the tourist resorts, much of it unsympathetic to the geography.
[edit] External links
- Costa del Sol Tourist Board
- Directory of Costa del Sol services and attractions
- List of Costa del Sol golf courses
| edit | List of the Spanish Costas: |  |
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Costa Brava | Costa Dorada | Costa del Azahar | Costa Blanca | Costa Cálida |Costa de Granada | Costa del Sol | Costa de la Luz | Costa del Marisco | Costa Verde |
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