Costa Del Sol Overview

Artifice has replaced the once-natural charms of the Costa del Sol, as chic promenades, swanky hotels, and apartment buildings spring up between the small towns and the shoreline. The Costa del Sol extends from Tarifa in the southwest to Cabo de Gata, east of Almería; post-industrial Málaga lies directly between the two. To the northeast, hills dip straight into the ocean, and rocky beaches enhance the shore’s natural beauty. To the southwest, however, waves seem to wash up onto more concrete than sand. Still, nothing detracts from the coast’s major attraction: eight months of spring and four months of summer. News of the fantastic weather has spread, and July and August bring swarms of pale northern Europeans. Reservations are recommended in the summer anywhere on the coast, especially at hostels.

• Granada

Although the Christians torched all the mosques and the lower city, embers of Granada’s Muslim past still linger. The Albaicín, a maze of Moorish houses and twisting alleys, is Spain’s best-preserved ...more