Ben Hillman is house hunting around the beautiful seaside town of Benalmadena on Spain’s Costa Del Sol with Lorna and Gordon. They’re relocating and are looking for their new dream home, with enough space so that their gigantic family of 19 children and grandchildren can come and visit. Armed with a budget of £250,000, Ben has 5 great options to show them, but will any measure up to the couple’s idea of perfection?
Benalmadena on the Costa Del Sol is just a 20-minute drive from Malaga airport, and the flight time’s around 3 hours. One of the most popular tourist destinations in Southern Spain, it has almost 13,000 hotel beds and its 80,000 population more than triples in the summer months. The town dates back to the Stone Age and was a major settlement in Roman times. It first became popular as a holiday destination in the 1950s and has been expanding ever since – now covering almost 30km2.
We’re kicking off the search in Toremuelle - a suburb of Benalmadena less than a 10-minute drive from the town centre which has its own train station one stop away and just 23 mins by train from Malaga Airport (or a 25 min drive). This end of terrace house has a split level courtyard garden at the back and a balcony with great sea views. You enter the house on the upper floor, where there’s a light and bright living and dining room and a kitchen, then downstairs there are three bedrooms, two of which open onto the back garden, and there’s a shower room. This property is no longer available, see more from the agent here.
Next we’re heading closer to the town centre of Benalmadena but to a quiet residential neighbourhood in its Northern fringes nestled into the hillside between the pretty pueblo and the buzzing centre of Arroyo del Miel. You come into this three storey house on the middle floor, where there’s a large light-filled living room with a fireplace for chilly evenings, a separate fitted kitchen and a shower room. Upstairs there’s a master bedroom with its own walk in wardrobe, plus two more good sized bedrooms and a family bathroom. On the bottom floor there’s a large room with its own bar currently being used as a bedroom, a WC, and a terraced garden with stunning views over Benalmadena to the sea. This property is no longer available.
For our third property, we’ve ventured to the nearby town of Alhaurin de la Torre - about a 15 min drive from Benalmadena and the coast, with a population of almost 40,000. This recently refurbished house has gardens both at the front and at the back, a large and bright living room with a fireplace and a spacious kitchen with room for a dining area. Upstairs has three good sized bedrooms, two of which have small balconies, and a family bathroom. The property is no longer available, see more from the agent here.
Next, we’re heading back towards Benalmadena to an urbanisation nestled between the bustling town of Fuengirola and the pretty hilltop town of Mijas Pueblo at the foothills of the Sierra de Mijas mountain range. This detached villa has a wrap around patio garden, including an enclosed courtyard garden at the back which leads into the kitchen. There’s a large living room with adjoining dining room, a master bedroom with ensuite shower room, two more decent sized bedrooms and a family bathroom, plus a garage currently used as a storeroom. No longer available - see more from the agent.
Our final property is close to the heart of Benalmadena in an area that translates as “honey creek”, one of the town’s 3 main areas (the others being Benalmadena Costa and Pueblo). This house is laid out on three floors and has loads of outside space including a split-level courtyard garden. You enter it on the middle floor where there’s a living room with an adjoining balcony with great views and a bright modern kitchen-diner. Downstairs there’s another living room (which leads into a sun terrace, and on the top floor we have a master bedroom with its own small balcony and an en suite bathroom, two more bedrooms and a family bathroom. No longer available - visit the agent's website here.
Our luxury property lies in the exclusive residential neighbourhood of El Higueron. It is a brand new villa with a stunning glass walled pool and loads of space both outside and inside. It has five-bedrooms and six-bathrooms and is in a secure, CCTV monitored gated community. No longer available, visit the agent's website here.