Mijas

Mijas is the largest white village in Málaga. Conveniently close to other large towns like Fuengirola or Marbella, it is actually scattered among different areas, some in the mountain, some by the sea of in between. Today we take a walk around Mijas Pueblo, which is the place where it all started thousands of years ago, when in 900 BC the Phoenicians put down rooms in this fertile land in the mountain, watered by small river. Romans, muslims, catholics would come later, but the city remained on its advantageous position, between land and sea.

Mijas is a very multinational place, where 40% of its residents are actually expats. From retired Brits and Germans, to adventurous Sri Lankans, everybody is welcome and finds its place within some cute white walls. Also notable is the affluence of Japanese tourism, literally EVERYTHING is translated for them.

Mijas has recently been on the news because of corruption of its major, who raised his own salary to 126000€ per year i.e. the best paid major in Spain. But despite this, it is very well worth a day trip to wander around the streets and pet the donkeys or ride the traditional burrotaxi which originated in the 50s as many land workers would return home riding their donkey. Today, there is whole system to make sure that the animal does not take more load than what he can handle, a donkey-parking on the shadows, etc. But still, I cannot help feeling sorry about them... 

Nevertheless, Mijas is an awesome day-trip to cool down from the beach and become more familiar with the rich culture of Andalucia, as there's much more to it than beach, jamon and sangría.

PS: I guess you can recognize Michael from our Madrid Tour. Let me introduce him. Born in Malaysia and raised in Australia, he is our very good friend from Japan. To spend some months in Sweden for work - yes he was also in Trädgården - gives him a chance to explore Spain. The trip to Malaga was his first time in the country, but he didn't hesitated to come back a month later for my birthday in a new city to discover!! Guess he liked it.

PS2: Sometimes we are terrible realizing the wonders of our own country, we travel far to find more or less similar things we didn't know even existed. I am all for long-haul but when you are limited in terms of time, budget or both... National travel can be a memorable alternative.