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Municipality of Alhaurín de la Torre (Andalusia, Spain)

Málaga Province

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image by Blas Delgado, 15 Oct 2005

Introduction

See also:

Málaga Province (Andalusia, Spain)
Andalusia (Spain)
Spain

Introduction

Basic data:

Size: 79,10 Km²
Population: Approx. 23.000
Residents known as: Alhaurinos
Monuments: Church of San Sebastián, Casa refugio de Torrijos, Arcos de Zapata, Hermitage of Alamillo, Hermitage of Santo Cristo del Cardón.
Geographic location: At the entrance to the Guadalhorce valley, 17 kilometres from Malaga.
Tourist information: Town Hall, Punto Industrial, s/n. 29130.
Phone: 952 410 005
Fax: 952 413 336
On the Internet: www.alhaurin.com/delatorre/ayuntamiento/indice.htm

Alhaurín de la Torre sits at the entrance to the Guadalhorce valley, easy to get to these days by the main National 340 coast road. At only 17 kilometres from Malaga city, one takes the airport road towards Torremolinos and turns off at the signposts to Alhaurín. The traditional and the modern live comfortably side by side in this town, with its old Moorish-style streets and houses in the Barrio Viejo and the modern housing estates and villas on the outskirts. The weather here is perfect, due to its privileged geographical position between the Guadalhorce river and the Sierra de Mijas.

Alhaurín de la Torre has become a prosperous municipality in which agriculture is the main source of income, with citric and sub-tropical fruit plantations and olive groves covering the landscape. The unique climate of the area has also resulted in a large number of nurseries having been established in the area.

The origin of the place goes back to pre-historic times, and it is known that the Phoenicians that set up factories in Malaga and Cártama in about 1,000 B.C. settled in Alhuarín. it was here that Lauro was founded, and centuries later the Romans called it Lauro Vetus. The Moors, in their time, called it Albarracín, and it grew from that into a larger collection of farm-houses. The re-conquest of the town in 1485 meant another variation on the name, and the place was finally called Alhaurín de la Torre.

The population increased sharply due to the influx of Christian settlers during this period. There are many archaeological remains in the municipality, most of them being in the Estación de la Alquería area, officially designated as being of Cultural Interest. The area is about 18 hectares in size, and was occupied by settlers in the 3rd and 4th centuries B.C.

Blas Delgado, 15 Oct 2005