Posted on July 02, 2023
Updated on August 05, 2023
Do you know all the 11 neighborhoods of Torremolinos? If you are looking to move to Torremolinos, or if you have been visiting the city, you probably have heard these names. I bet you’ll recognize some, if not all. In this post we will see (literally!) each one of the neighborhoods of Torremolinos and I’ll share my impressions on each of them. It’s like a virtual tour, in a way. A bit of vacation in our day.
When I was preparing my move to the Costa del Sol, it bothered me that I couldn’t find specific info about each neighborhood within the cities I was looking, as it is important to know what to expect from each area when considering buying a home and enrolling Kiddo in a school there. I hope I’m starting to fill in this gap here by sharing with you my two cents about each and all of the 11 neighborhoods of Torremolinos.
Table of Contents
Torremolinos borders Málaga to the North and Benalmádena to the South. The city is safe overall, well serviced by buses and train and very well connected to Malaga – it is closest to the airport of Malaga than Malaga’s city center itself.
You can see Torremolinos on google maps to check around the neighborhoods of Torremolinos as we go through them. 😉 This is the map I used as a base to draw the divisions you see on the picture below – a Google map’s bird view with added drawings delimitating the neighborhoods of Torremolinos.
Each number on the map above represents a different neighborhood, listed below. The separations on the map were made taking into consideration the division proposed on the Idealista.com website and my own knowledge of the area.
1- Los Álamos
Above: Playa de los Álamos
A mostly quiet and flat area that has been attracting more tourists recently, as the beach of Los Álamos seems to be getting more popular. This neighborhood has its own train stop (Los Álamos) which is a big advantage as it makes going anywhere from Málaga to Fuengirola so much easier.
The possible downside of this area is the proximity to the airport; I’d recommend you visit the area and spend a few days there before buying property to check if the airplanes can be heard in your location. The same advice is valid both for La Colina (2) and El Pinar (3).
Related post:
Train stations in Torremolinos
2-La Colina (The Hill)
Above: Comercial street at La Colina
Compared to Los Álamos, it is a bit more hilly (as the name, “The Hill” implies) and mixes areas of dense population with empty terrains. It has a few tall residential buildings with more than 10 floors, and these are mostly studios or 1 bedroom apartments; there are also quite a few constructions on the way, of what seem to be modern, luxury buildings. It is a popular area both with tourists and locals, well maintained and charming; it is also well served by commerce and, like Los Álamos (1), the Center(6), El Pinillo (8) and Montemar(10), it has a convenient train station. This one is called (guess what?) La Colina.
Related post:
Train stations in Torremolinos
3-El Pinar
Above: a street view of El Pinar
The chic and hard-to-drive-through El Pinar is the area of Torremolinos where the beautiful independent houses (meaning detached; not townhouses) with pools and gardens are located. Properties here often cost more than half a million euros, some more than a million. This neighborhood sits on the top of a hill, and can be viewed from the AP-7 (the highway on the west border of Torremolinos) when coming from Málaga. Don’t mix El Pinar with Los Pinares or El Pinillo, completely different locations!
4- Playamar / Benyamina
Above: The Playamar towers
Much like Los Álamos, this beachfront location has a relaxed feel and has been increasing in popularity (and property prices) over the last years. This is a mix of tourist and residential area. It is very distinctive on Torremolinos’ map because of the towers shown above; for quite some time, these were the only tall buildings of Torremolinos. The views are fantastic.
5- Los Pinares
Los Pinares is a beloved part of the city, mostly covered in woods. Its a leisure area that hosts the town’s manantiales (water springs) and is used by locals and tourists for picnics and barbecues. It is also where we can find the Patronato of Torremolinos, a large area dedicated to sports, as well as Torremolinos’ Recinto Ferial, the bull ring, and the water park Aqualand.
6-Centro (Center)
Above: Plaza de la Unión Europea, part of the center of Torremolinos
The center is full of commerce, restaurants and nightlife; it has plenty of interesting spots to visit, such as the famous Calle San Miguel – a long walking-only commerce street that is always busy and that offers a variety of goods; the Plaza de La Union Europea (above), Plaza de Andalucía and Plaza Costa del Sol, this last one recently renovated, all full of cafés and restaurants where to rest after shopping. And more commerce, banks, flowers, sculptures and happy people. Yes, people are happy to be here.
In the center we also find the Plaza de la Nogalera, with more restaurants and vibrant nightlife, which, together with the Bajondillo beach (7), form the the core area of the strong LGBT community of Torremolinos.
Then there is also the notorious Torre Pimentel (Pimentel Tower). The tower is rather falling apart, but the surroundings are interesting, if you face going from the center to the lower part of the city by stairs. The stairs are long but fun, I recommend you go if you can.
Above: Torre Pimentel.
All of these are interesting spots to visit in Torremolinos’ center, but there are residential areas here as well. To the south, but still in the center, from west to east, are the subareas of Ayuntamiento (because it is where the Ayuntamiento is), then El Calvario and, closer to the beach, Loma de los Riscos. To the north is the area known as Manantiales / Estación de autobuses. Despite being in the center, these residential areas are all a bit run down, except for part of Loma de los Riscos.
They are overcrowded and the apartments, which are small, tend to have no garage or places to park. The streets are mostly clean and I believe they are safe, but the buildings often have wires coming out of the windows – or walls!? – and clothes hanging outside, as seen below.
Above: a street of El Calvario, subarea of the center of Torremolinos
The center is well connected by train. The stop is hard to miss – Torremolinos station 😊.
Related post:
Train stations in Torremolinos
7-Bajondillo
Oh, yes. Now we are talking. Bajondillo is just beautiful. I believe it gets its name from being at a lower height compared to the center (bajo means low). It is accessible by the center through two elevators and by two long, long, really long stairs.
Both elevators are close to the stairs. I’ll share here the pictures of the entrances/exits of one of them, because 1) it’s a bit hard to find and 2) I’ve never seen the other one working (people say that it does work sometimes, though). It costs 0,50 cents to go either up or down.
Below: one of the elevators that connects the Center to the Bajondillo area. In the first image, way on the back, is the upper part of the elevator, ie, the elevator view from the Center; the second image shows the lower entrance/exit on Bajondillo.
Above: one of the lifts to the beach. If you look around on the second picture, you’ll see a tiny part of the stairs it substitutes.
In the Bajondillo there are many hotels, good restaurants, chiringuitos (beachside restaurants), the beautiful Casa de los Navajas and, of course, the Passeo, a large, beautiful and comfortable sidewalk that goes all the way from Los Álamos to the Carihuela. The Passeo and the beach are probably the most famous attractions of Torremolinos, and they are both free!
8-El Pinillo
Above: a rather run-down part of El Pinillo
El Pinillo is a bit of a mixed area. It has a warehouse / car service area, that appears mostly in gray on the numbered map above, and residence and commerce as well, but it is not a touristic area. As a matter of fact, some of it is a bit run-down.
Now, when I first posted this Neighborhoods of Torremolinos, it caused some commotion among the members of the Facebook page Torremolinos Today, for 3 main reasons: one, I included Los Pinares (5) as part of El Pinillo, which I since corrected and have separated on this revision; second, I said parts of El Pinillo are a bit run-down (sorry! I recommend to the reader to check it on Google Maps or even better, in person, and let us know your opinion in the comments!) and third, the border between El Pinillo and La Leala may be a few streets below where my drawing on the map puts it.
On that last matter, Torremolinos today’s readers may well be right; by the map above, the public school El Pinillo is in La Leala! I wrote to the Ayuntamiento asking about the correct borders, but I didn’t receive an answer up to today; I’d love to know it exactly. Until then, I opted to keep the division proposed by Idealista between these two neighborhoods, for lack of a better source and to be of help to those looking to buy or rent a property in these two regions.
Thank you Torremolinos Today for making the blog better!
Above: a well maintained part of El Pinillo 🙂
Related post:
Train stations in Torremolinos
9-La Leala / El Saltillo
La Leala / el Saltillo is a nice place. It is more modern and green than the areas in the center, and is better maintained than El Pinillo. La Leala/ El Saltillo has a mix of buildings and houses and it seems to me like it has a good balance between residential and commercial areas. The region houses both locals and expats. I’d love to know why it has two names.
10- Montemar
Above: View taken from the ‘Batería’ (battery) that names the park, in the Parque de la Batería, overlooking La Carihuela and the Mediterranean sea. Image by Francis Domínguez on Google maps.
Montemar is the area that has the lovely Parque de La Batería, a great place to go with kids. A must, actually. It is accessible by train; to go to the park, stop at Montemar alto.
The area itself is a nice mix of residential and commercial areas, with the bonus of being close to the park. In the part closer to the center, where the Parque de La Batería is, the elevation is considerably higher than its southeast extreme, where it borders La Carihuela and La Leala/El Saltillo; so if you are looking for a place with seaviews, the area of Montemar close to the park is a good spot to find it.
Related post:
Train stations in Torremolinos
11 – La Carihuela
Above: La Carihuela!
In recent years, La Carihuela seems to have grown tremendously in popularity. In my opinion, it is an excellent beach indeed, but just as good as El Bajondillo. Both areas have great hotels, restaurants, the beach and the Passeo. I suspect La Carihuela fandom has to do with the big amount of British and Dutch pubs and commerce in the area – a very valid reason, of course. For me, it has another major advantage: it borders Benalmádena! S2
Bonus: Check here the tourist map made by Turismo Torremolinos, the site of the Tourism office of Torremolinos 🙂
