Mijas Pueblo

Mijas Pueblo sits at about four hundred metres on the flank of the Sierra de Mijas, close enough to the coast to see the whole Costa del Sol and Gibraltar on a clear day, and far enough up to have kept its village form while the resorts below expanded. The lanes are whitewashed and hung with flowers, and the centre holds the Ermita de la Virgen de la Pena, a chapel carved into the rock by a Mercedarian monk in the eighteenth century, along with a small bullring built in an oval shape to fit the ground. The burro taxis, donkeys pulling carts and carrying riders, have operated since the 1960s and are the village's best-known image, though animal welfare groups have campaigned against them.

What you actually see

• The rock chapel - the Ermita carved into the hillside in the 1700s.
• The oval bullring - a small ring shaped to fit the available ground.
• The coastal panorama - the Costa del Sol and, on clear days, Africa.
• The donkey taxis - the long-established and contested carts.

When to go

Spring and autumn for comfortable walking; the village is busiest with coach groups between eleven and four. Summer is hot and crowded. Evening is quieter once the day trips leave.

Honest expectations

The centre is given over to souvenir shops and coach tourism, and it can feel packaged. The donkey taxis have drawn sustained criticism over animal welfare. Parking fills early and the lanes are steep.

Nearby

Fuengirola and its bioparc are below; Marbella and Estepona lie west along the coast.