Why go
The Costa del Sol did not begin with hotels. Malaka was a Phoenician settlement, Roman routes linked the port with inland Hispania, and medieval Mālaqa became a fortified city. Later wine and raisin exports brought another commercial phase. These layers give Málaga a different purpose from a beach town and put the surrounding coast into a longer story.
The full story
The Phoenicians founded Malaka on this coast in the first millennium BC. Under Roman rule, Málaga gained links with inland settlements and other Mediterranean ports through the Via Herculea. Political control changed repeatedly after Roman authority weakened. In the medieval Islamic period, the city known as Mālaqa was walled and served as the centre of a taifa before becoming part of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. The Catholic Monarchs took it after a long siege in 1487. The following centuries were uneven: disease, poor harvests and disasters marked periods of decline, while maritime trade kept Málaga connected to wider markets. In the eighteenth century, wine and raisins became important exports, supported by works at the port and routes inland. The Aqueduct of San Telmo addressed the city’s water supply. These phases are most legible through Málaga as a port city. The coastal resorts tell a newer chapter, but they sit beside a much older network of trade, defence and agriculture.