320 days of sun a year

A short drive inland from Malaga and the ever popular beaches of the Costa del Sol brings the visitor to a suddenly tranquil and traditional region of Andalucia.

A broad river valley, its mountain flanks dotted with white villages, leads gently up to Lake Viñuela. It is a warm land of olives and raisins, mango and kiwi, boasting the best climate in Europe with 320 days of sun a year.

This is La Axarquia, a wedge-shaped region to rural Malaga that spreads northwards from the coast as far as Antequera, the Sierra Tejeda mountains and the border with Granada.

La Axarquia in rural Malaga

Some of the eastern villages here, such as Competa or Frigiliana, have become the preferred choice of many Britons and other Europeans looking for a second home – or a new life – in the sun and near the coast.

They remain pretty villages which have only partly succumbed to the zeal for development exported from seaside resorts such as Fuengirola and Torremolinos. A more genuine Spanish feel is guaranteed if you push a little further inland: to Viñuela or Colmenar, for example, and the rural heartlands near Natural Parks in the Antequera area.

La Axarquia is one of the very few places in mainland Europe where winter swims are a real possibility. The Mediterranean climate is guaranteed by mountain ranges which shelter the area to shore winter temperatures up to 10⁰ C or more. Here, surrounded by rolling countryside and in the shade of orange and lemon trees, you can enjoy fresh seafood from the coast, local avocados, custard apples and Moscatel grapes, while planning day trips to the region’s many tourist attractions.

Moorish history stand out in the form of hilltop castles and also in the steeples of some village churches, which were once the minarets of mosques built during the centuries of Islamic culture in Andalucia.

La Axarquía is bordered to the west by the Montes de Malaga: gentle mountains, rich in Mediterranean pine forest, offering views of the sea from their protected Natural Parklands. This western area of Axarquia and just beyond, where prominence goes to villages like Colmenar and the historic town of Antequera, is the most rewarding in terms of natural beauty and interest.

View holiday homes in Axarquia & Antequera

DETAILED MAP OF AXARQUÍA, ANDALUCÍA, SPAIN 

DETAILED MAP OF ANTEQUERA, ANDALUCÍA, SPAIN 

Colmenar

Colmenar village, just 35 km north of Malaga, is set right in the midst of the Malaga Mountains. The village itself is not so much old and entrancing as a genuine and pleasant agricultural village, where the production of honey is of particular note (colmena in Spanish is "beehive"). But the surroundings are beautiful and there are a number of well-situated holiday villas here.

Of special interest in this area are the bizarre rock formations of El Torcal, a natural park with marked walks from its Visitors’ Centre via caves and extraordinary limestone creations. It is home to foxes and weasels as well as hawks, vultures and species of wild orchid.

>Access from Malaga Airport is exceptionally easy, and good highways link the area to Granada and Cordoba for day trips.

Antequera

Fifteen kilometres up the road (and just outside La Axarquia), on a fertile plain where it is surrounded by olive groves and sunflowers, we find Antequera. The town’s long history was recently underlined by the discovery of a Roman city, the remains of which can be visited by passing under the tremendous stone Giant’s Arch, itself dating back to 1585. An Arabic fort dominating the town retains its White Tower and Keep; and once the Moors were defeated by the Catholic Monarchs in the 15th century, churches started to go up with such fervour that there are now more here than anywhere else in Spain.

More fascinating than any of these, however, are the famous Dolmen Caves on the edge of town. These Bronze Age burial mounds, the most famous and impressive in all of Europe, were constructed by some of the earliest Iberian settlers some 4,500 years ago using huge slabs of stone. The Dólmen de Menga alone comprises 32 of these megaliths, including one massive stone weighing in at 180 tonnes. When archaeologists opened the inner chamber they found hundreds of human skeletons.