Pretty inland Malaga town hopes to exceed one million tourists in 2025

The 19 Andalusian municipalities in the most beautiful villages and towns network received more than 7.8 million visitors last year, of which 2.3 million (30 per cent of the total) were international tourists

Eugenio Cabezas

Frigiliana

Tuesday, 4 March 2025, 11:31

The popular town of Frigiliana on the east of Malaga province is expected to exceed one million visitors this year according to a study carried out by the town hall. Using data from the mobile phones of tourists over the age of 18, the study revealed that 976,000 people visited the town in 2024.

The data gathered by the town hall comes from a technical study commissioned by the Los Pueblos Más Bonitos de España (the most beautiful towns/villages of Spain) network through Telefónica Tech, using the information supplied by the telephone companies through the mobile phones of people over the age of 18 who visited the town in 2024.

Frigiliana is regularly voted one of Spain's prettiest 'pueblos'. Its privileged location in the foothills of the Sierra Almijara, proximity to the coastal resort of Nerja, and its historic Moorish quarter, make it a tourist jewel. The historic Barribarto area is one of the most popular places for tourists, with its cobbled streets, whitewashed houses and colourful flowerpots. Its tourist slogan claims Frigiliana is the ‘light of Andalucía’.

Popular traditions and festivals are another of the village's attractions and have largely remained unchanged over the years. Holy Week, the May crosses, the San Antonio pilgrimage, the annual 'Feria' (fair) in June and of course the Three Cultures festival which takes place at the end of August and celebrates the village's Christian, Islamic and Jewish heritage, are some of the most popular annual events.

The town's registered population exceeds 3,300 inhabitants and is home to a large foreign community. There are many more unregistered residents also representing a large number of nationalities. The Axarquía town has been part of the exclusive most beautiful towns and villages of Spain network since 2015, which also includes Genalguacil, since 2021, and Parauta, since 2023, also in Malaga province.

Now the mayor of Frigiliana Alejandro Herrero wants to reach the one million visitors mark: "It has meant an improvement in the standard of living and quality of life in the municipality," he said when interviewed on the radio station Cadena Ser in the Axarquía. Herrero added that visitors are spread very evenly over eight of the twelve months of the year, so that the ‘high season’ runs from March to October. "November is the weakest month, but then we have Christmas, it goes down again in January and February, and April, May and October are like July and August," he explained.

The mayor went on to say that there are 51 bars and restaurants in the town, meaning that it has one of the highest proportions of hospitality establishments in relation to registered inhabitants in Malaga province.

The town hall has a number of rules and regulations for property owners to ensure that they maintain the typical Andalusian style of the buildings, with measures such as a bylaw prohibiting the installation of solar panels on roofs.

It also limits the construction of new houses that do not respect this style and new builds must stick to strict designs that incorporate the traditional Andalusian aesthetics and the typical tile roof, without skirting boards on the façades. The town hall not only wants to continue attracting tourists for the beauty of the town itself, but also for other attractions such as hiking in the Sierras Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama mountains and natural park.

Among projects in the pipeline are a recreational area to the north of the town and the reopening of the archaeological museum, which houses important remains found at sites in the area, in the old town hall building. "We hope to have everything ready in the first half of this year," Herrero told the radio station.

The 19 Andalusian municipalities in the most beautiful villages and towns network received more than 7.8 million visitors last year, of which 2.3 million (30 per cent of the total) were international tourists. Of the total, five are in Cadiz: Vejer de la Frontera, Setenil de las Bodegas, Grazalema, Castellar de la Frontera and Zahara de la Sierra; four in Granada: Bubión, Capileira, Pampaneira and Trévelez. Almeria has three beautiful villages, Níjar, Mojácar and Lucainena de las Torres, the same number as Malaga: Frigiliana, Genalguacil and Parauta.

Completing the list are Baños de la Encina and Segura de la Sierra (Jaén), Almonaster la Real (Huelva) and Zuheros (Córdoba).Among the most visited Andalusian destinations, the Almería destination of Níjar stands out, with 2,015,152 visitors, followed by Vejer de la Frontera (Cádiz), with 1,497,835 tourists, and Mojácar, also in Almería, with 1,137,729 visits. In terms of seasonality, the data reflect a significant difference between coastal and inland towns.

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