Whitewashed houses of Mijas Pueblo on the hillside, seen from the south in evening light

Areas

Mijas

Photo: Alan Grant, CC BY-SA 4.0

Mijas is three quite different places under one town hall. Mijas Pueblo, the historic village, sits at about 428 metres on the slopes of the Sierra de Mijas. Las Lagunas, the largest centre, forms a single urban area with Fuengirola. La Cala de Mijas is the coastal centre to the west, beside a municipality coastline of 12 kilometres.

With 95,104 registered residents on 1 January 2025 (INE) and almost 149 square kilometres of land rising to the 1,150-metre Pico de Mijas, it is one of the largest municipalities on the Costa del Sol. Choosing where to buy here starts with choosing which of these settings suits the way you want to live.

Neighbourhoods

Each part of Mijas has its own centre, services and character.

  • Mijas Pueblo: the historic centre. It has the Ermita de la Virgen de la Peña, a chapel carved into the rock by a Carmelite brother between 1656 and 1682, a bullring and the burro-taxis, donkey rides for visitors that began in the late 1950s.
  • Las Lagunas: also known as Mijas Costa, with about 50,300 residents in 2023 (INE), more than half of the municipal population. Most of it has been built in recent decades, and it has the Teatro Las Lagunas and a Casa de la Cultura.
  • La Cala de Mijas: a former fishing settlement, called La Cala del Moral until the 1970s after the mulberry trees that grew there, now home to around 4,000 people.
  • Calahonda: a coastal district in the west of the municipality, where the 16th-century Torre de Calahonda watchtower still stands.

Away from these centres, rural areas such as Entrerríos and La Alquería still keep their own identity, a reminder that much of Mijas was farmland until the second half of the 20th century.

The coast

The Mijas shoreline has twelve named beaches, among them the beaches of La Cala and Calahonda, and one beach is set aside for naturists. The coast is lower-rise and less continuous than in Fuengirola, with rocky stretches between the sandy bays.

Part of the Senda Litoral, the Málaga provincial council’s project to link the coastline from Manilva to Nerja, runs along this shore between La Cala and Calahonda. Much of this section uses raised wooden boardwalks, so residents can walk or cycle along the sea for several kilometres.

Old watchtowers still mark the shore. Torre de Calaburras was built around 1515, Torre de Calahonda dates from the 16th century, and Torre Batería and Torre Nueva stand near La Cala. They were part of the chain of towers that once guarded this coast.

Life in Mijas

Mijas surrendered to the Catholic Monarchs in 1487 after resisting their first campaigns. For centuries afterwards it lived mainly from farming and fishing, until tourism began to change its economy in the 1950s and 1960s.

Golf is now a large part of local leisure. Courses in the municipality include El Chaparral Golf Club, Santana Golf & Country Club, El Soto Golf, and the Campo América and Campo Europa courses. Las Lagunas opens the summer calendar with the Feria de la Virgen de la Paz in late June, the first of the three main fairs held in Mijas each year.

The INE household income atlas for 2023 shows a younger population than in neighbouring Fuengirola, with a mean age of 40.7 and 15.0% of residents aged 65 or over. Around 31.8% of residents held a nationality other than Spanish. Average net income was €11,823 per person and €31,912 per household, with 2.6 people per household.

Daily services are spread across the three centres. The municipality has 61 supermarkets, 22 shopping malls, 47 pharmacies and 13 clinics.

Getting around

Mijas has no railway station of its own. Las Lagunas, which merges into Fuengirola, is the part of Mijas closest to the Cercanías C1, whose stations in Fuengirola include Los Boliches and the Fuengirola terminus.

The A-7 crosses the municipality from east to west, and the AP-7 toll motorway has a toll station named Calahonda. Málaga–Costa del Sol Airport (AGP) is roughly 24 km from Mijas.

Bus services inside the municipality are limited, so most residents of Mijas Pueblo, La Cala and Calahonda rely on a car for daily errands and school runs.

Schools and healthcare

The municipality has 42 schools and seven kindergartens. In La Cala, secondary pupils can attend IES Torre Almenara or IES La Cala de Mijas. St Anthony’s College, on the Camino de Coín about 5 km from Fuengirola, offers a British education, recognised in the Spanish system, for pupils aged 3 to 18.

Hospital Universitario Costa del Sol in Marbella is the public hospital that covers Mijas, and its emergency department is open around the clock. For everyday care, residents use the municipality’s clinics and health centres, including those in La Cala.

The property market

Most homes sold in Mijas are resales. Official figures cover the whole municipality, from village houses to coastal apartments, so they describe an average across very different areas.

  • Consejo General del Notariado, homes sold in the latest 12 months published (retrieved August 2026): 3,150 homes in Mijas, an average of €2,948/m², an average sale price of €365,163 and an average size of 124 m².
  • Ministerio de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana, notarial-based transaction count for Q2 2025 to Q1 2026: 3,016 homes sold in Mijas, 402 of them new (13.3%).
  • Registradores de España (Estadística Registral Inmobiliaria), Málaga province in Q2 2026: 8,873 registered sales, €3,254/m² and an average price of €338,816.
  • Registradores de España, foreign buyers in Q4 2025: 12.5% of home purchases in Andalucía, compared with 13.52% nationally.
  • The NLS, sold prices in Mijas, Q3 2026 to date: €3,088/m² based on a single recorded sale. One sale cannot describe a market of this size, so treat it only as one data point.
  • The NLS, asking prices in Mijas, Q3 2026: €3,896/m² across 80 NLS listings.

Do not expect these numbers to line up. Notarial and ministry figures count signed deeds, Registradores counts sales once registered, and NLS asking prices show current seller expectations, each over its own period.

Across Málaga province, the notarial series shows an average of €3,061/m² from 33,997 sales, so the Mijas notarial average sits slightly below the provincial figure.

Who Mijas suits

Mijas suits buyers who already know which setting they want. Mijas Pueblo fits people who prefer village streets, mountain views and a slower rhythm. Las Lagunas suits those who want town services and easy access to the trains in Fuengirola. La Cala and Calahonda suit buyers who want the beach and the coastal boardwalk close to home.

Golfers will find several courses inside the municipality. Buyers who hope to live without a car should concentrate on Las Lagunas, where Mijas meets Fuengirola and the railway.

Mijas on the map

Apartments for sale in Mijas

Houses for sale in Mijas

Villas for sale in Mijas

Penthouses for sale in Mijas

Townhouses for sale in Mijas

Plots for sale in Mijas

New developments in Mijas

Off-plan€213,000 – €429,000Laguna NovaLas LagunasGround Floor Apartment · 1 - 3 beds · 51 - 103 m²Off-plan€225,515 – €327,850LANTANA Residencial BoutiqueLas LagunasGround Floor Apartment · 1 - 2 beds · 43 - 70 m²Off-plan€239,000 – €480,000Suite Mijas II – KEY READYMijasMiddle Floor Apartment · 1 - 3 beds · 39 - 107 m²Off-plan€248,300 – €355,000Laguna OneLas LagunasGround Floor Apartment · 1 bed · 53 - 66 m²

See all new developments

Talk to Merike or Margit about Mijas

Not sure whether the village, Las Lagunas or the coast is right for you? Merike and Margit can talk you through the differences and arrange viewings in each part of Mijas.

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