Calahonda AFFORDABLE COSTA DEL SOL WITH EVERYTHING ON YOUR DOORSTEP

Very much so. The community is well established, healthcare is nearby at Hospital Costa del Sol, the cost of living is reasonable, and the social scene is active year-round.

About 15-16 minutes (11 miles) by car via the AP-7. Fuengirola is 10-12 minutes east.

A Moorish-style commercial centre that serves as the social hub of Calahonda. It has restaurants, shops, a supermarket, a pharmacy, and hosts a regular market.

Yes. Calanova Golf and Miraflores Golf are both within five minutes. Cabopino Golf and La Cala Resort are also close by.

Among the most competitive on the western Costa del Sol. Two-bedroom apartments start around 170,000 euros. Townhouses range from 250,000 to 450,000 euros. Villas from 400,000 to over 1 million euros.

Wide sandy beach with chiringuitos and lifeguard service in summer. Less crowded than Fuengirola, with easy access from El Zoco.

Within El Zoco and the immediate area, yes. However, Calahonda is spread across hilly terrain, so getting between different urbanisations often requires a car.

Yes. It is a quiet residential area with an active neighbourhood watch community. The urbanisations are mostly gated with 24-hour security in the larger complexes.

Farmacia Los Jarales C.B., on Calle Mérida de Jarales, is the local pharmacy.

La Fonda El Zoco, Restaurante Miraflores and The Boardwalk are popular options in the area.

On the coast of Mijas municipality, midway between Fuengirola and Marbella, at the Marbella border next to Cabopino. Málaga airport is about 35 km and 25 minutes by the AP-7, Marbella centre about 15 minutes, Fuengirola 10.

The full name of the original urbanisation, laid out in the 1960s on the hillside above the beach, and still the name on signs and on many addresses. In everyday use Calahonda and Sitio de Calahonda mean the same place; the newer complexes along the coast road and towards Riviera del Sol grew out of it.

The beach and the Senda Litoral path along it, the Artola dunes and the small port at Cabopino next door, golf at Calanova and Miraflores five minutes up the hill, El Zoco for restaurants, the market and everyday shopping, and padel and tennis inside the urbanisation. Marbella and Fuengirola are both close enough for an evening out.

Costa del Sol weather: around 300 days of sunshine a year, an average of about 18 degrees, mild winters where daytime temperatures rarely drop below 15, and summers in the high twenties and low thirties cooled by the sea breeze. The hillside position catches more wind than the beach itself.

Mijas. Calahonda is the westernmost part of Mijas Costa, and the municipal border with Marbella runs just beyond it at Cabopino, so it is served by Mijas for council services and by Marbella for the nearest hospital, the Hospital Costa del Sol, 10 minutes away.