Torremolinos local customs

Torremolinos: Feria Virgen del Carmen – La Carihuela.

From the 15th-18th of July (the second weekend in July) is the Feria Virgen del Carmen at La Carihuela beach in Torremolinos, and all along the sea-shore as well. This is a very big event for sailors as she is the patron saint of the sea. Carmen is another name for virgin Mary. This is a ceremony where the statue of Carmen is carried out of the church in La Carihuela “Parroquia Intra. Sra. del Carmen” in the street of Calle Carmen. The ceremony starts at 19:00 o´clock in front of the church and we started waiting there ca 1,5 hours earlier. There were big crowds in the narrow street and the police showed us so we were almost too friendly with the people standing next to us, glued together like sardines in a can. Everybody “important” person in Torremolinos was present at the ceremony and of course various TV-networks.

The statue of Carmen was carried out of the church by navy rookies (please correct my English if this is not the right term for it), some of them barefoot and one of them was blindfolded, as a way to condone for their sins. They carried the statue of Carmen in a big procession down to the beach of La Carihuela right by the rock and put it on a platform there. That took ca 1,5 hours. We waited on the beach where there was a ceremony, speaches and singing. Then the statue was carried once more to a boat on the ocean with a lot of boats surrounding it honking their “horns”. It was a beautiful sight seeing the boat with the statue of Carmen sailing away all lit up in the dark followed by a lot of decorated boats. This fleet sailed all along the sea-shore of Torremolinos and back. Later on it returned and the statue of Carmen was carried to the church again. Seeing that I come from an island where fishery is the most important industry it was a very touching ceremony.

This I would call is the biggest ceremony here on the coast of Torremolinos and coincides with La Feria de Carihuela.
Updated Jul 17, 2011

Torremolinos:Roundabouts

In the centre of a roundabout near the Tourist Information Centre on Bajondillo Beach is this sculpture, a reproduction in three dimensions of Picasso’s painting Two Dancing Ladies. We stopped to admire and photograph it on our first morning in the town, and only later did we start to realise that it appears to be the custom here to make all the roundabouts decorative with sculptures, interesting planting or similar. En route to Mijas on the Sunday we saw one with standing stones, another with a beautiful copper dome in its centre, some planted with palm trees, one with a Japanese style garden, another with a modern steel sculpture and several more. All were nicely done and very well-maintained, and they added a lot to the interest of our journey through the outlying “suburbs” of the town.
Written Feb 9, 2011

Torremolinos: Día del Turista – The day of the tourist.

“Día del Turista” or The day of the tourist was held this year for the 21st time in Torremolinos. It is held in honour of the hundreds of thousands of tourists visiting Torremolinos each year. Unfortunatly I missed this event only by few hours and the photos show what it looked like after the festivities. I add this tip here so that you will not miss it like I did. It is held on the first Thursday in September. It starts at 10 with a parade through local streets led by the Musical Marching Band and girls in traditional costumes offer flower to people. Then at 13 there is music and dancing and complimentary paella (a big one), sangria, Malaga wines and soft drinks on the beach and Paseo Marítimo in front of Hotel Melia in Bajondillo and at another location in La Carihuela-Montemar and Playamar. There is also celebration and paella and street entertainers at La Plaza Jesus Santos Rein – La Nogalera in the center of town of Torremolinos

Then later on there is a bull-fight at the bullring.

Torremolinos: La Feria de la Carihuela.

Every town in Spain celebrates its own feria and even different areas in Torremolinos celebrate their own feria, thus the feria in La Carihuela is held on the 15th-18th of July and lasts for a couple of days. The feria of Torremolinos is then held on the 29th of September. As with all ferias in Spain there is food and drink, dancing and singing at a feria ground “Recinto ferial”. At the feria ground there is also a tivoli. In La Carihuela there was only a small tivoli, but in Malaga for example there was the largest tivoli ever. But the concept is the same, people dress up in Flamenco clothes and celebrate.

The feria of La Carihuela is held to celebrate “Virgen del Carmen” see my tip on that.

The feria of La Carihuela is held by the end of Calle Bulto by Plaza del Remo.
Updated Oct 19, 2009

Torremolinos: Dia del Pescaito in La Carihuela.

“Dia del Pescaito” means Day of the sardine (or small fish) and this festival is all about fish! It takes place in Paseo Maritímo on La Carihuela on 11th of June and it is party, party, party. Mostly young people attend the festival and drink all day long and eat “pescaitos fritos” spit-roasted sardines, which are given to people for free, and other delicacy from the sea. Well, people of all generations attend but the loudest ones are always the drunk ones. There were big crowds and fun attending it, but later on in the evening the beaches were filled with drunk teenagers – so if you want to attend the festival with kids go there earlier in the day.

“Pescaitos fritos” or spit-roasted sardines are one of the trademarks of the Promenade (Paseo Marítimo) of Torremolinos, so they deserve a day of their own See my tip on that under things to do.
Updated Oct 19, 2009

Torremolinos: Gay Scene

keeweechic 10971 reviews

Torremolinos has quite a popular gay scene. There is large number of gay bars and venues as well as shops. Many of the bars do not open until around 11.00pm which are busy on Friday and Saturday nights. The Beirola beach, close to hotel Melia Costa del Sol, is probably the most popular.
Written Aug 8, 2009

Torremolinos:Soccer

Soccer is a very popular sport in Spain and was introduced by the British when they occupied the country. Soccer camps are even held during the summer months. While you can often see children and adults kicking around a soccer ball, there are obviously places where you cant.
Written Aug 8, 2009

Torremolinos: Festivals

keeweechic 10971 reviews

The patron saint of Torremolinos is St Michael and every year at the end of September, a 5 day festival is held in celebration of the Saint. There are lots of festivities and entertainment including bull fights. The highlight of the week is actually at the beginning of the festivities where pilgrims on horseback followed by tractors, oxen and horses pulling decorative floats form a procession from the town to Los Pinares. Here a mass is celebrated in the San Miguel Chapel in the honour of St Michael.
Written Aug 6, 2009