Velez Malaga tourist information

Capital of La Axarquía, Vélez-Malaga, often simply referred to as Vélez, is the centre of an agricultural region known for its strawberries and vineyards, which produce the muscatel grapes from which the famous Málaga wines are made.
The town was important in both Roman times, under the name of Menoba, and Moorish when as Ballix-Malaca (Fortress of Málaga) it had an important role in subduing what has always been a turbulent region. In 1487, Ferdinand conquered the town and the Christian flag was raised on the castles battlements as the Moors were ejected. This victory paved the way for the fall of the Nasrid city some five years later. There are also several remains of Phoenician cemeteries and tombs which testify to a still older history.
The town is a centre for the processing of olive oil and sugarcane. Ceramics feature among other industries. If you are here on a Thursday, take time to wander around its weekly market, always an enjoyable experience.
The large extension of the municipal district of Velez Malaga and its geographical situtation in the centre of the Axarquía region, as well as its coastal position, gives it a large variety of panoramas. The main part of its lands extend over the basin of the Velez river, predominating the characteristic landscape of the Axarquía mountains, where the most outstanding element is the fertile plain. When the Guaro and Benamargosa rivers begin to widen the bottom of their valleys, before they join to form the Velez river, the surroundings of plots which descend to the coast also widen the field of vision of the municipality giving panoramas of great beauty, like the one from the road which goes from Torre del Mar to Velez Malaga, or spots of notable singularity such as the plots of Triana or the area of Trapiche.
When the valley of the Velez river exits to the coast, the agricultural surroundings widen at the delta of its mouth into sugar cane crops, a scenery which is each time scarcer in the coastal plots of the province of Malaga, but which used to be an outstanding element.
Next to the delta of the Velez river, is the forever extending popular city of Torre del Mar which although humble in its marine and agricultural origins, today, thanks to the touristic phenomena, has strongly transformed into the traditional image of the coast.
The coastal area has not only turned into Torre del Mar. The effects of the tourist phenomena have been felt from one point to the other of the Velez coast, and therefore, small nuclei like Chilches, Benajarafe, and Almayate, see anexes grow on the coast, where as others which already existed, such as Caleta de Velez, Mezquitilla or Lagos, are also growing and they all considerable transform the coastal landscape in which the small fertile plains fight for survival even if this is through green houses.
The Velez Malaga district enjoys a privileged enclave, which was already appreciated by the prehistoric inhabitants, remains of their presence have been found in the outskirts of the city.
It is possible that the first settlement was Iberian, later recuperated by the Phoenicians, and after consolidated by the Romans and Arabs. Presence of the Carthiginians has left an important mark near the mouth of the river Velez, in the Toscanos factory (8th to 6th century B.C.). Their inhabitants established themselves on a nearby hill, the Cerro del Peñon, a place where some authors situate the Greek city, Mainake, quoted by Estrabón, Avieno and Ptolomeo, among other.
During the Roman rule the area revitalized and was populated until the Low Empire era (Mainoba), but it was the Arabs who really gave Velez Malaga its importance. They established an urban nucleus which stood out for its strategic situation (it became one of the main defenses of the Granada kingdom) and also for its commerce and culture.
The conquest of Velez by Fernando el Cátolico was at the end of April 1487 and brings with it the despoilment of the Arabs lands to be given to the nobles who fought by king Fernando. This together with the prohibition to use their own language, religion and customs, and the tax rise applied to the Moorish population, caused the precarious peace which had arisen after the conquest to break into the Moorish uprise which lasted from 1560 to 1569. At the end, the Moors were defeated and expelled, and their lands were shared among the neighbour Christians.
The fort of Velez, which played an important part in 1704 during the War of Spanish Succession, was left very damaged and its defensive importance wasn’t recuperated until the War of Independence against the French, when it was destroyed.