Almayate is a coastal community situated 28 kilometres from Malaga, between Benajarafe and Torre del Mar. It is in the municipality of Vélez-Málaga, right in the centre of the Axarquía.

There are three distinct areas to Almayate (four if one counts Valle-Niza, which was formerly part of it). There is ‘El Hornillo’, comprising of a few houses, huts and bar-restaurants lining the beach, mostly hidden from view by sugar cane; Almayate Pueblo or Bajo, the main population centre, half a kilometre inland on the other side of the old N340 coast road. Then, higher up still, is the Moorish Almayate – Almayate Alto –  now a hamlet with a few outlining farm houses and villas.

The high rocky outcrop that the large black figure of the Osborne bull sits on was originally a promontory sticking out into the sea. However, two thousand years of silt being washed down by the River Vélez from the hills above, created the delta we can see spreading out beneath the old sandstone headland. 

Thus, few coastal farming areas of Málaga are as extensive and productive thanks to this mineral-rich delta. In Moorish times it was the main farming area based on irrigation in the Vélez-Málaga area, from which the name of Almayate meaning ‘The Waters’ is derived. At the Sant Pitar quarry at Valle Niza, man-made cavities were discovered which are believed to have been created and actually lived in by a community of hermits in the 8th to 11th centuries. It is believed that they were Mozarabic monks, and a small ‘cave church’ that was possibly used by them has also been identified.

However, the story of Almayate goes back much further than the Moors. Over two and a half thousand years ago the area around Almayate Bajo was settled by the ancient Phoenicians, then afterwards by the Romans. In fact the ancient Phoenician settlement of Toscanos is an extremely important part of the history not only of the local area, but in the origins of Spain itself.

Both the original Phoenician and Moorish settlements have long disappeared, but in the 19th century the area became more popular and Almayate Bajo was founded, leaving just a few scattered houses on the coast and up at Almayate Alto.

The onset of tourism, including residential tourism, has brought changes here of course. There has been an encroachment of new buildings on the land in recent years, both around the villages and the new urbanisations in Valle-Niza.

But while tourism is now an important source of income, along with a limited amount of fishing that is still carried out, agriculture is still by far the most important, especially since the introduction of new crops such as the avocado. Indeed, the fields are still tilled with the help of a breed of bull (photo above) that is indigenous to the Axarquía, and is still reared in Almayate.

This special animal also features in Almayate’s famous romería in late April, which has the largest gathering of bull teams in the Axarquía, (photo, left). Another standout feria to look out for is Almayate’s living nativity scene at Christmas, one of the most anticipated events during the Axarquian Christmas.