Mijas · 36.57° N · 4.64° W
White hill village above the coast, and Las Lagunas below, where most of Mijas lives
Mijas Pueblo sits at 428 m on the southern slope of the Sierra de Mijas, about 9 km by road above Fuengirola. Under Moorish rule it was Mixa; it held out against the Catholic Monarchs in 1487 and, after Málaga fell, its people were sold into slavery. Tourism arrived in the late 1950s, and with it the burro-taxis, which began when visitors asked quarrymen riding home on their donkeys for photos and rides. The old centre has been a protected historic-artistic site since 1969, and the municipality has grown from about 7,000 people in the early 1950s to 95,104 in 2025.
A white village on the sierra, donkey taxis at the rank, and Las Lagunas below, where most of Mijas actually lives.
Most of inland Mijas does not live in the postcard village. Las Lagunas, on the flat land behind Fuengirola, had 46,972 residents in 2019, more than half the municipality, against 3,531 in the Pueblo. It is a dense grid of apartment blocks, supermarkets, schools, the Teatro Las Lagunas, the municipal sports city and the health centre, and it runs straight into Fuengirola, whose train station and beaches are about 2 km away. This is where many people buy a first flat: Las Cañadas and the centre are among the cheapest addresses on this stretch of coast, while rents are pushed up by demand from Fuengirola.
Around the two centres are quieter pockets: Osunillas on the road to Benalmádena, Valtocado and La Alquería in the hills west of the village, Campo Mijas, the Mijas Golf urbanisation built around two 18-hole courses, and the villas of Cerros del Águila. More than 30,000 of Mijas's residents are foreign (British and German were historically the largest groups) and English is widely spoken in the village's restaurants and shops. Families use the bilingual state schools and the British-curriculum Ark Christian School in Las Lagunas; the urbanisations are villas and townhouses where a car is essential.
The village changes more by the hour than by the month. Day-trippers and coach groups fill Plaza Virgen de la Peña, the burro-taxi rank and Calle San Sebastián from mid-morning; by evening the lanes are quiet and dinner is the main event. The council puts on free flamenco at noon (Wednesdays and Saturdays in the November 2026 programme), the feria and patron-saint days fill the first fortnight of September (8 September is the Virgen de la Peña), Las Lagunas holds its feria at the end of June, and on 17 January pets are blessed at the San Antón chapel in Osunillas. Aquamijas opens for the summer and closes in mid-September.
The honest downsides: there is no beach. The village is a 15–20 minute drive from the sand and Las Lagunas a 5-minute one. The Pueblo's streets are steep and narrow, cars are best left in the municipal car park on Avenida Virgen de la Peña, and village restaurants are priced for visitors. Las Lagunas is dense, crossed by the A-7 motorway and short of parking; the hill urbanisations depend on a car and on the A-387 Mijas road. The Hipódromo Costa del Sol, the racecourse that once ran the winter Mijas Cup, has held no race meeting since August 2012; the town hall took over the site in December 2025.
No coastline: Las Lagunas is about 2 km from Fuengirola's beaches, the village 15–20 minutes by car.
Mijas Golf's two 18-hole courses and the 9-hole Cerrado del Águila are inside the area; La Cala and Santana are 15 minutes away.
Evenings mean dinner in the village; for bars and clubs people go down to Fuengirola.
Bilingual state schools, a British-curriculum school, a municipal sports city, Aquamijas and many small parks in Las Lagunas.
The village is calm once the day-trippers leave; Las Lagunas is busy, dense and beside the A-7.
The Pueblo and central Las Lagunas work on foot (the village is steep); Osunillas, Valtocado and Mijas Golf need a car.
Las Lagunas is one of the cheaper places on this coast: Las Cañadas €2,645/m², Centro €2,949/m² (October 2026 asking prices).
More than 30,000 foreign residents in the municipality; English widely spoken in village restaurants and shops.
Homes we sell ourselves here — our exclusives and the new developments we represent.
Live listings in Mijas Pueblo & Las Lagunas at three very different budgets.
in Las Lagunas (all home types, mostly flats); Mijas average €4,098/m²
Mijas; +8.1% Las Lagunas; +4.0% Mijas Pueblo
for an 80 m² 2-bed in Las Lagunas (€18/m², +12.1% a year); Mijas average €16/m², Campo de Mijas €13/m²
| Home | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 bed flat, Las Cañadas or Las Lagunas centre (55–80 m²) | €150,000 | €240,000 |
| 2–3 bed flat, newer Las Lagunas blocks (75–100 m²) | €270,000 | €430,000 |
| village house or flat, Mijas Pueblo (70–120 m²) | €320,000 | €545,000 |
| townhouse, Mijas Golf / Campo Mijas / Valtocado (100–150 m²) | €300,000 | €590,000 |
| detached villa, Cerros del Águila / Hipódromo (200–350 m²) | €900,000 | €1,600,000 |
Figures are the portals' listing-price index (asking prices, all home types; no flat/house split is published per zone), so final sale prices are usually a little lower. Cheapest: Las Cañadas (€2,645/m², down 14.7% in a year) and Las Lagunas Centro (€2,949/m²), both flats in the dense town, and Campo de Mijas (€3,037/m²), countryside where you need a car. Dearer: Las Flores in Las Lagunas (€4,340/m²), Mijas Pueblo (€4,539/m²) and Hipódromo–Cerrado del Águila (€4,518/m²), villas on the hills facing the sea. Valtocado–La Alquería rose fastest (+18.1%). Rents are highest in Las Lagunas because it is effectively part of Fuengirola. The price ranges above are estimates (zone €/m² × typical size), not quoted listings.
Photo: SimónK · CC BY-SA 4.0When tourism reached Mijas in the late 1950s, visitors began asking quarrymen on their donkeys for rides.
The quarrymen rode home to the village on their donkeys, visitors asked for photos and rides, and the burro-taxis were born. They still wait at the rank by Avenida Virgen de la Peña to carry visitors around lanes of white houses at 428 metres on the Sierra de Mijas, a centre protected as a historic-artistic site since 1969.
Mijas was Mixa under Moorish rule and held out against the Catholic Monarchs in 1487. Its sights are small and particular: a 17th-century chapel cut into the rock for the Virgen de la Peña, an oval bullring opened in 1900, and the CAC Mijas, with around 130 works by Picasso. By evening the day-trippers have gone and dinner is the main event.
Postcard-pretty and busy by day, quiet at night; steep streets
The white village on the mountainside: lanes of whitewashed houses around Plaza Virgen de la Peña, Plaza de la Constitución and Calle San Sebastián, with views down to Fuengirola and the sea. Homes are village houses and small apartment buildings; €4,539/m² on average (October 2026).
Busy, practical, Spanish-speaking working town that merges into Fuengirola
The everyday town of Mijas, on the flat land behind Fuengirola: apartment blocks, supermarkets, schools, the theatre, the sports city, the health centre and the Saturday market. Asking prices run from €2,949/m² in the centre to €4,340/m² in Las Flores (October 2026).
Modest, close to Fuengirola's shops and station
The north-eastern part of Las Lagunas next to Los Boliches (Fuengirola), with a primary school and a municipal sports hall. At €2,645/m² it is the cheapest sub-zone of Las Lagunas in the October 2026 index, though prices there fell 14.7% in a year.
About 275 pupils, roughly 57% international, taught in English in small classes from Pre-Reception to Sixth Form, with Spanish as first or foreign language. Fees about €300–700 a month.
Public secondary school with about 1,080 pupils on Camino del Albero, offering science and humanities Bachillerato; canteen and school transport.
The state (SAS) health centre on Calle La Unión, open 8:00–20:00 on weekdays with its own urgent-care line (951 03 14 37); its primary-care emergency service covers Mijas Costa and Fuengirola, about 170,000 people. The reference hospital is Hospital Costa del Sol in Marbella.
The village's SAS GP surgery on Plaza de la Paz, open 8:00–15:00 on weekdays (951 77 40 31); for urgent care call 951 03 14 37 or go to the Las Lagunas health centre.
Hospital Costa del Sol's specialist outpatient centre in Las Lagunas, at Avenida de las Margaritas and Paseo del Albero: hospital consultations and tests closer to home, with no A&E. Appointments 951 97 67 83.
Country venta on the slopes north-west of the village: fillet steak, barbecue ribs, belly pork and king prawns, €20–40 a head. Wednesday to Sunday, 13:00–23:00.
Open since 1996 just off Plaza de la Constitución, with three dining rooms and a terrace looking down to the coast; paella, fish and grilled meat. Reviewers say the view depends on getting a window table, so ask when booking.
Grill restaurant just behind the main square with a high terrace and an open grill: lamb cutlets, grilled sea bass and salmon, about €20–30 a head. Closed Tuesdays.
Tapas bar on Plaza de la Constitución by the bullring: garlic prawns, sardines, chicken wings and sangria for €10–20 a head, open every day 11:00–23:00.
Bar by the main square on Calle Málaga, known for its 'Popeye' spinach salad and mixed tapa plates under €10. Closed Tuesdays.
Wine bar on Calle Málaga that stays open until 2:00, the latest in the village: house wines, jamón, chicken skewers and oxtail. Closed Tuesdays; opens at 17:00 on Wednesdays.
Founded in an old cortijo by the Australian Wimbledon champion Lew Hoad, under new management since 2005: 7 plexicushion tennis courts, 6 glass padel courts, a tennis school, summer camps and a restaurant.
Two 18-hole courses, Los Lagos and Los Olivos, designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr.; Los Lagos was rebuilt in 2012. Driving range, pro shop and a restaurant open 7:30–20:00.
A 9-hole course in the Cerrado del Águila hills, taking 2026 and 2027 bookings, with a padel club of six glass courts next door.
Robert Trent Jones Sr. design, rebuilt in 2012 keeping the original layout; green fees open to visitors.
Second course at Mijas Golf, shares the clubhouse, range and restaurant.
Nine-hole course on the hills above the coast, with a padel club alongside.
Water park in Las Lagunas with the 'Kamikaze' slide and a children's area, 'La Jungla'. Summer only (it closed for the season on 14 September 2026); 10:30–18:30 in July and August; adults €34.50 at the gate.
Chapel cut into the rock by a Carmelite friar in the 17th century, home to Mijas's patron, beside the El Compás viewpoint over the coast. Free entry.
The donkey taxis that started in the late 1950s still wait by Avenida Virgen de la Peña for rides around the village lanes.
Unusual oval bullring opened on 8 September 1900; visitors can walk the ring and stands for €3 (daily, longer hours in summer).
The municipal theatre on Camino del Albero, with stalls and an upper circle; the town hall's programme of plays and concerts runs through the year (shows every week of November 2026).
Short municipal flamenco shows at 12:00, on Wednesdays and Saturdays in the November 2026 programme; check the tourist office's agenda for the week.
Saturday street market (clothes, shoes, leather, fruit and vegetables, olives, plants) with a second-hand market on Sundays, both in the San Rafael industrial estate off Avenida María Zambrano; about 9:00–14:00.
Mijas has been an official Artisanal Interest Zone since 2018; the Mijas Artisans Association (about 30 members) keeps esparto weaving, saddlery and taracea wood inlay alive, alongside ceramics and silver jewellery sold in the village.
Answered from this guide: its sources and its maps.
We can tell you which streets suit the way you live, what is on the market there that has not reached the portals, and what it should really cost.
Researched on the web in November 2026; every place was checked as open. Photographs from Wikimedia Commons and Flickr, used under the licences shown, and from the places' own websites and official tourism pages, credited on each card.
