Costa del Sol

The coast around Málaga lies beneath the mountains of southern Iberia, facing the Alboran Sea. Phoenicians founded Malaka here, and the city later became a port of al-Andalus and the Nasrid kingdom of Granada. Along the shore, small settlements stood between the sea and the hills, within reach of ships crossing from North Africa. The coastal strip links the port with places farther west towards the Strait of Gibraltar.

Watchtowers guarded this coast from the time of the Nasrids. After the Christian conquest of Granada, the threat of corsair raids made their upkeep a continuing concern. The Catholic Monarchs promoted a system of coastal watch in 1497, and towers built or maintained in the sixteenth century gave warning of ships approaching the Andalusian shore.