Malaga's fake medieval castle that is only 30 years old: where is it and why was it built?

Anyone driving along the roads of the Guadalhorce Valley, looking towards the slopes of the Sierra de Mijas, might come across an unmistakable silhouette. Battlements silhouetted against the sky, a keep that watches over the horizon and stone walls that seem to narrate centuries of battles and reconquests.

However, the stones of this fortress hold no Nasrid or old Christian secrets. There are no legends, no ghosts, no military history. It is the Castillo de la Mota , a building located in Alhaurín el Grande that deceives the untrained eye: it looks like a relic from the Middle Ages, but is, in reality, a "fake historical building", built just three decades ago.

Unlike the unique Colomares Castle in Benalmádena, the monument to Christopher Columbus which, although modern, fulfils a cultural and touristic purpose, the Castillo de la Mota in Alhaurín represents the bitter face of real estate ambition . It is a concrete skeleton disguised as history, a film set that ran out of actors and script halfway through filming.

This fascinating building is located in the municipality of Alhaurín el Grande, in an elevated area known as La Mota. Its position is strategic, offering privileged views over the valley, which explains why it was chosen as the site for the project. However, it does not appear in the official tourist guides of the Junta de Andalucía or in the historical heritage itineraries, and for a good reason: it is not a monument that can be visited, but a private property in a state of neglect.

To understand why this giant was built, you have to travel back to the early 1990s. The Costa del Sol and its surrounding municipalities were experiencing a urban planning effervescence where pharaonic projects were the order of the day. It was then that a developer promoted the construction of a large residential development that promised to be a benchmark of luxury in the interior of the province.

The plan was ambitious: high-end housing, a golf course and a social club would be the jewel in the crown. This social club was not to be a conventional building; it was designed with the aesthetics of a medieval castle to give the complex an air of nobility and exclusivity.

Construction began around 1993. The walls were erected, the main tower, which is over twelve metres was outlined, and the arches and rooms that were to house the future residents and golfers were created. However, as with so many other projects of the time, financing failed. The developer's financial problems brought the work to a standstill, and the residential complex and golf course never materialised as dreamed. The castle remained there, half-finished, like a watchtower of a ghost town that never existed.

Today, thirty years later, the Castillo de la Mota is a place that attracts both the curious and the vandals. As you approach, the medieval illusion quickly fades. The walls, far from the historic masonry, reveal their modern nature: brick and concrete clad . The interior, which should have housed luxurious lounges, is now a canvas for graffiti and an occasional haven for drinking parties .

The structure has suffered from the looting of materials and the passage of time without maintenance has turned the enclosure into a potentially dangerous place. Despite this, its appearance remains powerful from a distance, fuelling the confusion of tourists who believe they have discovered a forgotten fortress of Al-Andalus.

While Malaga has been able to showcase its true heritage, from the Alcazaba to Gibralfaro Castle, and has seen how private initiative and the Church have preserved real architectural gems, La Mota Castle remains a reminder of the excesses of construction. A make-believe fortress that, paradoxically, tells a very real and recent story of the province: that of urban planning dreams that fell by the wayside.