27 Jun Calahonda – the largest urbanization
Sitio de Calahonda, or just Calahonda as we say, is located in the municipality of Mijas, midway between Fuengirola and Marbella. From there it is 13 kilometers to Fuengirola, 15 to Marbella and 40 to Málaga airport. Calahonda is an urbanization (residential area), which was established in the 1960s and has grown so large that it is now almost considered a city.
Calahonda is today the largest urbanization on the entire Costa del Sol and has more than 15,000 inhabitants. In 2015, a boardwalk was built which connects Calahonda with La Cala and Cabopino, and in the future this boardwalk will be extended all the way to Fuengirola and Marbella respectively. The easiest way to reach this promenade is via the tunnel on the coast road near the shopping center El Campanario/Los Cipreses, where you also get to La Luna Beach with the nice beach restaurant La Luna.
Why is Calahonda so popular?
Here you can find everything you could ask for in terms of services such as shops, banks, doctors, dentists, pharmacies, grocery stores, more than 50 bars and restaurants and the coast’s largest tennis facility, Calahonda Club Del Sol. There are furniture stores, travel agencies, car rental, car repair shops, property management and much more. Calahonda also has its own port, Cabopino Puerto and an 18-hole golf course, Cabopino Golf, as well as a 9-hole par 3 course called La Siesta. A big advantage of Calahonda is the exit from the AP-7 motorway to Calahonda, which is the only exit on the route between Fuengirola and Marbella. In 30 minutes you are at Málaga airport. There is a bus connection with Fuengirola with three departures per hour.
The history of Sitio de Calahonda
In 1963, Calahonda’s founder, Juan Orbaneja, came to the Costa del Sol to look for suitable land to build homes on. He contacted the Van Dulken family, who owned the land in Calahonda, and agreed to jointly exploit the 280-hectare area that is today Sitio de Calahonda. In 1996, the two families began building the infrastructure and constructing homes. While Juan Orbaneja and his family bought part of the land in Calahonda and continued the development, the Van Dulken family contributed to the purchase of the remaining land needed to realize their dreams. The only thing that was already built at that time was the Hotel Alhamar, which is one of the oldest hotels on the Costa del Sol. The urbanization started with a base at Calle Málaga. There José de Orbaneja built his first house, which became a social club, Club La Naranja. This then became the hub in the development of Sitio de Calahonda with infrastructure from Avenida España down to the beach road. Up to 1980, 500 homes were built and between 1980 and 1989 another 4,200 homes. Today, in 2017, there are a total of approximately 10,000 homes in Calahonda.
