Andalucia Travel Costa-del-Sol: Beginnings of the Tourism Boom
Andalucia Travel Costa-del-Sol: Early Infrastructure
15th July 1957: a published letter, sent to the Director General de Telefonica exposed a veritable problem.
Torremolinos
had only 2 telephone lines, for the whole town, which then comprised of:
24 hotels and hostels,
Numerous American bars,
3 nightclubs and 4 cafeterias.
Torremolinos was a Favourite Destination
Reserving a hotel room (by phone) was 'mission impossible' due to the ever-increasing popularity of Torremolinos, frequented by Americans and Northern Europeans, seeking the warm sunshine of the Costa del Sol.
Andalucia Travel Costa-del-Sol:
Famous Guests 1950 - 1970's
Before Torremolinos sprawled into urban chaos, this small coastal town was visited by: royalty, film-stars, artists, such as Gino Hollander, writers, musicians, financial magnates. Torremolinos was the chosen honeymoon venue of the Danish crown prince and his wife in 1950.
Torre Pimentel: Torre de los Molinos
The Nazrid dynasty built this 2 meter-high adobe watchtower in order to protect the mills and their produce. The Torre de los Molinos watchtower is situated at the southern end of Calle San Miguel, overlooking the Bajondillo beaches and Malaga bay.
The "Beautiful People" who visited Torremolinos
Rita Hayward, Merle Oberon, Ava Gardener, Vivian Leigh and husband Sir Lawrence Olivier, Diana Dors, Marlone Brando, the German chancellor Franz Joseph Papen.
Famous Authors
Graham Greene, John Atenbeck, Cornel Wilde, Jean Jacques Servan Sreiber.
Andalucia Travel Costa-del-Sol: More Famous Guests...
Swedish Princess Margaret, Elizabeth Taylor and husband Eddie Fisher, Princess Soraya, Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly Princess of Monaco dined in the Pinar Hotel accompanied by the Counsel of Malaga, Princess Soraya and her brother, Norweigian Princess Astrid and her brother.
His Royal Highness Ibn Saud Abdel-Azis from Saudi Arabia, Ingrid Bergman and husband Lars Schimdt, Anthony Quinn, the Dukes of Windsor (and chauffeur), Princess Lela Aicha (sister of King Hassan 11), Belgium King Balduin.
Frank Sinatra was fined 25,000 ptas because of a dispute with a “Pueblo” journalist, Juan Dominguez Peron and 3rd wife Maria Estella Martinez de Peron, Geraldine Chaplin, pianist Arthur Rubenstein.
King Faisal of Suadia Arabia was declared guest of honour, Greta Garbo, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones and girlfriend Anita Pallenberg, Brian Epstein: manager of The Beatles.
Bullfighters: Luis Miguel Dominguien and El Cordobes, Miss España(s), Sean Connery, Marisol, Judy Garland on her fifth honeymoon with husband and Henri Charriere (Papillion).
Julio Iglesias with his wife Isabel Preysler, Sophia Loren, Spanish Boxer Pedro Carrasco, racing driver Angel Nieto of Andalucia Travel MotoGP, Prince Salman Ben Abdul-Aziz, his wife and 8 children, the Sultan of Imarat.
All stayed in Torremolinos, Andalucia Spain and most flew to Malaga Airport.
Famous Books About Torremolinos
James A Michener published "The Drifters" in 1971 winning the Pulitzer prize.
The Drifters was based on life of six young people who stayed in Torremolinos during the party-happy 'sixties and also in the Algarve, Marrakech and Mozambique.
Andalucia Travel Costa-del-Sol:
What Originally was Torremolinos?
Torre de los Molinos was the watchtower which overlooked a small village comprising of
18 mills, many of which, milled grain crops from
Antequera.
This village had remnants of a Roman road (see: Hispania Map) traversing it which led to Cadiz and latterly became the N-340 coastal road using much of Hispania's via Augusta original path.
Many traces of Roman and Phoenician origins such as the ancient caves: Cuevas del Tesoro, Cueva del Encanto and Cueva de los Tejones were obliterated when Castillo Santa Clara was built in 1763. Saduce, a Phoenician settlement, was situated at the entrance of the Guadalhorce river close to where the Torremolinos Parador Club de Golf is located.
Andalucia Travel Costa-del-Sol
The Historic Molinos of "Torre de los Molinos"
The Sierra de Mijas, surrounding Torremolinos, protects the Guadalhorce valley. The Sierra de Mijas is composed of marble and limestone. Geologically it belongs to the inner Cordillera Betica, a feature of the Gibraltar Arc: the westenmost part of Alpine Orogeny.
Torremolinos as a consequence had many fresh-water springs. The Moors knew the value of water-power and constructed mills utilizing this natural energy. See: al-Andalus Water Secrets
Molino de Batan Andalucia Travel Costa-del-Sol
The Mills
Molino de la Plana: Paper Mill
Molino de la Molina: vanished
Molino de Batán: Flour mill now converted into a restarant
Molino de Zea: Flour Mill
Molino del Moro: Iron grinding
Molino del Molinillo: salt grinding
Molino de Manojas: Flour mill which later ground lentils for the manufacturer Ceregumil
Molino del Castillo: vanished
Molino del Malleo: flour mill - vanished
Molino del Rosario: vanished
Molino de la Torre: flour mill - no trace left except for the name of a restaurant in its place
Molino de la Glorieta: vanished
Molino El Nuevo: flour mill now converted into an apartment block
Molino de la Esperanza: mineral grinding - vanished
Molino del Pato: vanished
Molino del Caracol: vanished
Molino de la Cruz: stone-grinding - vanished
Molino del Peligro: transformed into apartments
Andalucia Travel Costa-del-Sol Ancient Cartography
Ancient cartography of the
"Coast of the Kingdom of Granada" (drawn up by the geographer Giacomo Cantelli in 1696 AD), identified Torremolinos as "Molina."
Molina: Mill of a large capacity.
Christian Destruction of Fortunes
The Torremolinos mills were a significant source of income (
a thousand gold doblas per year) to Emir Muhammed IX, needing much protection against pirates and Christians.
Moorish Spain
Torremolinos' Moorish Mills and the Malagüenian vegas were systematically destroyed as consequence of the Christian reconquista action in 1432 AD. See Alhambra Spain and Alhambra Spain 1492
Since Phoenician times Torremolinos had been a fishing and salting hamlet.
See: Political Map of Spain and the Physical Map of Spain or Malaga Map
Notorious Torremolinos ...
Torremolinos was extremely poor, more than once local government had to donate hundreds of beds to the inhabitants of Torremolinos, when storms wrecked the Coast.
All About Andalucia
Cigarette smuggling was generally the most serious offence.
The Bikini versus Spanish Morals
The bikini and swimming trunks were forbidden 16th July 1958. Wearing these aforementioned garments incurred a fine of 500 ptas.
12 January 1962: Spanish Immigration to Germany: no longer necessary. Torremolinos Pueblo urgently needed: qualified electricians, plumbers, gardeners, painters and carpenters.
21st June 1967: The Crime of Torremolinos. A British man was shot dead in a drugs-related reckoning
The 21 apartment tower-blocks in Playamar were saved from demolition on the 8th September 1972
12th February 1970: Blue film distribution arrests
24th June 1971: Gay Raid, 114 foreigners were arrested in bars and discotheques
Andalucia Travel Costa-del-Sol:
How and Where did the Tourism Phenomenon Begin?
The Castillo de Santa Clara originally used as carabineers' barracks was purchased in the
1930's by Sir George Langworthy. This gentleman gained much respect from the locals because of his generosity to families-in-need, giving each a silver peseta.
The locals affectionately called him "The English Peseta Man."
Sir George Langworthy converted the Castillo de Santa Clara into the first lodgings for foreigners. The Castillo de Santa met with great success in the tourist-sector. Soon after Carlota Alessandri reconditioned her Cuzcurra farmstead, thus opening the Parador Montemar in 1933. Hotel Roca opened in 1942.
Torremolinos Nightlife initiated with the El Remo restaurante-discotheque in 1949.
Torremolinos was very popular with the Beautiful People. The first luxury hotel opened in 1959, The Pez Espada Hotel.
Swedish Girls and the power of the Cinema
Swedish girls 'loved' Torremolinos! The cinema gave Torremolinos an incredible field-of-reference, transforming, this previously small coastal village into a world-wide favoured tourist spot. Torremolinos morphed into the 'modernist-icon of tourism' during Franco's strict dictatorship regime.
It was almost impossbile to reserve a room because of the popularity of Torremolinos.
Nerja
Further along the Costa del Sol coastline, some young boys went bat-hunting in 1959. They made the amazing discovery of the
Cueva de Nerja: Nerja Caves in Maro near
Nerja Spain. Archaeological findings date these caves from the Superior Palaeolithic - the Copper Ages and Bronze Ages.
The caves formed from exquisite stalactites and stalagmites of crystalline Dolomites - which the Sierra Alimijara towering above is composed of. The Nerja Caves were declared a natural monument and attract over 500,000 visitors per/year.
Nerja's setting is singular - compared to the rest of the Costa del Sol's geography: 200 metre cliffs plunge into the sea. Fast-erosion created many sandy inlets. Two surrounding natural parks hold many attractions: scuba-diving, walking, pot-holing, horse-riding and para-gliding. Not to mention the Balcon de Europa's fantastic views!
Andalucia Travel Costa-del-Sol: a Young Prince...
Seeing the enormous success of Torremolinos, in 1947 Prince Maximilium von Hohenlohe sent his 23 year-old son
Alfonso von Hohenlohe on a Costa del Sol land-scouting errand.
Marbella
Alfonso toured the coast with his Uncle Ricardo Soriano. Nestled under the Sierra Blanca they discovered
Marbella, a small fishing village.
The prince had the connections to persuade the rich and famous, who habitually visited Cannes and Monte Carlo, to vacation in Marbella.
Prince Alfonso von Hohenlohe inaugurated the soon-to-become fashionable Marbella Club in 1954, opening-up multiple new venues of Andalucia Travel Costa-del-Sol.
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About the Molinos:
Historia Torremolinos
The Torremolinos of yesteryear:
Aquel Torremolinos
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