Calahonda and Cabopino History

Situated in the province of Málaga, and midway between Marbella and Fuengirola has Calahonda offers the possibility of living in an urbanization of quality and prestige. Puerto Banus, Southern Europe’s premier boating and leisure centre, is only 15 minutes away and Málaga's large international airport can be reached within 20 minutes. Calahonda also has its own harbour, Puerto Cabopino, where you may practice any kind of nautical sports and activities, like sailing, wind surfing, parascending, kite surfing, boat trips, dolphin watching and skin diving.

Puerto de Cabopino harbor and beaches.

Puerto de Cabopino offers 170 berths for small and medium size vessels and has many excellent restaurants from most corners of the world. From Puerto Cabopino, the fine sandy beaches stretch to Calahonda, and to the west you can walk along the beach passing Elviria, all the way to Marbella, also passing the Artola dunes (a protected national park) with its restored Moorish lookout tower.

Puerto Cabopino is surrounded by wide, fine sandy beaches and, in the main season, life guards watch the activities. On the beach are chiringuitos, bars and restaurants for your pleasure. The urbanization extends gently from the coast up to the undulating hills 300 meters above sea level, offering fantastic views of the surrounding countryside running down to the sea, and along the coastline to Gibraltar and Africa. The Atlas Mountains and African coastline are often clearly visible.

Calahonda is one of the most popular communities on the Costa del Sol.

With its superb position, Calahonda enjoys well-run administrative services, financial stability, over 60 hectares of green zones that have been restocked with pine trees, parks and interior and exterior communications, analogue, RDSI [ISDN] and ADSL telephone lines are also now available.

There are now selections of commercial centers to choose from including Centro Commercial Calahonda near Los Jarales campsite and El Zoco offering a wide choice of supermarkets, shops, banks… in fact everything you need to survive without having to travel anywhere else. Due to its exceptional quality of life, Calahonda is the ideal place to spend long periods of the year or even to become your place of residence. Calahonda is known as one of the leading and most popular resident communities on the Costa del Sol. Its population varies dependent on the time of the year from a minimum of 14,000 to 45,000 at the highest.

In Calahonda, not only has the typical pueblo look survived, but it has flourished. The urbanization is a classic example of how to preserve the traditional splendor of Arabic/Spanish design, while blending it with modern touches and comforts that the discerning home-buyers desire. The majority of houses on the urbanization retain a Mediterranean style.

Calahonda was founded by the Van Dulken family.

The original Calahonda was founded by the Van Dulken family, and was formed by joining two real estates, each of 280 hectares. Today’s Calle Conde de Jordana was the former main access to the fort house which is now known as El Campanario (the first turn on the right towards Rattan Tom’s Furniture at the end of Centro Commercial Calahonda). Back then the fort house was painted in white and ochre to be able to watch the beaches and the coast without being seen. The reason for that was against the attacks of the Moors that took place. The fort house was shelter for residents and used to have a large fireplace where food could be prepared.

The El Campanario dates back to the same time when the watchtowers were built. Due to these attacks, the fort house had and still has very thick walls and small openings through which arrows were shot for defense. The walls also offered protection from the heat in the summer and the cold in the winter.

Mr. Juan Orbaneja developed and created Cabopino.

Mr. Juan Orbaneja is another important name in Calahonda history. He developed the area further and created Cabopino after purchasing some of the land off the Van Dulken family. Also created by Juan Orbaneja was the La Naranja social club which was the beginning of a new and more modern lifestyle; a lifestyle that can still be found here today.

The expansion of the area went further in the late ’60s when planning permission was given for 45,000 people. Buildings were not allowed that were more than six floors - on the contrary to before when buildings could have up to 12 storeys. The planning and architecture of Calahonda as we know it today was started by Garcia de Castro and Gabriel Allende. Due to the property boom that took place in this time the architects decided to split the area into plots of 5000m2 as well as even larger plots of 8000 m2. To retain and improve the already existing lifestyle, polo courts and a social club in El Campanario and a lake were constructed.

Calahonda water supplies.

Fernando and Juan Orbaneja were the ones who took care of Calahonda water supplies. Fernando Orbaneja was the one who found several wells in the area but also realized that this water supply would not be enough for the size of the urbanization. Juan Orbaneja found the solution and he started pumping water out of the well into a deposit which was found in Calle Monteparaiso. Here the water was collected and later distributed.

This worked very well until 1969 when Calahonda suffered a water shortage. Water had to be supplied by water wagons during the summer. Thanks to the construction of a reservoir in 1968 (the Rio Verde reservoir) Calahonda did not need to suffer for too long. Soon water pipes were laid and the problem solved.

Calahonda planted the pine trees and pine woods.

In 1966, 120 hectares of pine trees were planted and already existing pine woods were thinned out. They received special care and treatment when the trees were struck with a pest called ‘barrenilla’. Electricity, phone connections and sewage were up and running and these had a major effect on the popularity of the area. By 1980, Calahonda had 500 properties and has expanded ever since. Some would say too much now with the myriad of developments that extends into the campo.

Calahonda enjoys a privileged setting directly on the Mediterranean coast and is blessed with an amazing climate. Hot summers and mild winters combined with a wonderful breeze that keeps you cool during the summer months make the region a great place to be.

Calahonda is a modern town today with great people.

Calahonda is part of the municipality of Mijas. Due to the enormous property development it has grown so much that it is already the size of a small town. Many new developments of apartments, lovely streets in the pine trees wood with villas and on the hill side large luxury villas. It is the largest urbanization in between Marbella and Fuengirola which is the reason for recent attempts to separate Calahonda from Mijas. Unfortunately the attempts failed, which means that residents will have to keep on paying taxes to Mijas.

The urbanization’s greatest features are the tranquil lifestyle, the spacious plots, the limited apartment buildings and the numerous green areas. All of this makes Calahonda a great place to live. It is likely that the growth that took place in recent years will continue but you can be certain that the rustic fashion that is provided here will be maintained. Also located in Calahonda are four excellent golf courses which make the urbanization very attractive to golf lovers.

There are 45 restaurants, bars and cafés as well as supermarkets and seven banks. It’s a far cry from 1982 and the days of 20 pesetas a beer, but that’s progress they say. Some people call Calahonda little Britain but there is a far more diverse crowd here now compared with 1985 when apparently over 90% of the population here were British. Now you will find Germans (they were putting their towels on the sun beds even back in ’82) Swedes, Danes, French… in fact a multitude of nationalities now reside in Calahonda just like most areas of the Costa del Sol. But we all seem to get along very well, which begs the question ‘why doesn’t it work in the UK’ - but that is definitely a question for another day.