A Nasrid watchtower already had its present name in 1497, when the Catholic Monarchs listed it among the defences of the Malaga coast.
What is there to see in Manilva? Two sites listed as Bien de Interés Cultural: Los Castillejos de Alcorrín, a walled fortress of the 9th century BC, and the surroundings of the Castillo de la Duquesa, Roman, with a necropolis, a villa, baths and a fish-salting factory. Manilva council puts the village 97 kilometres from the capital and 35 from Gibraltar.
At Chullera stand 2 watchtowers, one truncated-cone shaped and another “older, with a cross-shaped base, the latter being the primitive tower of Nasrid times”. The municipality covers 35.30 km², sits 97 km from the capital and 35 km from Gibraltar, and its 18,818 residents triple every summer. It rises to an average 128 metres above sea level, takes 750 litres of rain a square metre a year and averages 18 degrees.
Two towers, two sugar mills and a house with a surname
At Chullera stand 2 watchtowers: one truncated-cone shaped and another “older, with a cross-shaped base, the latter being the primitive tower of Nasrid times”.
That older one has a documented name date. In 1497, in the Instructions for guarding the Coast issued by the Catholic Monarchs to the towns of the bishopric of Malaga, “it was already called the Torre de la Chullera”.
The Ingenio Chico is “one of the two sugar mills built by the Duke of Arcos in these lands”, its aqueduct still joined to the rest in rammed earth, in a technique of Morisco tradition.
The third piece carries a recognisable surname: the house that belonged to don Ignacio Infante, “brother of the father of the Andalusian homeland, Blas Infante”, restored and holding Roman remains found in Manilva.
Eighteen thousand residents, tripled each summer
The council publishes a figure and a warning in the same sentence: “The current registered population is 18,818 inhabitants, distributed across three population centres, Manilva, Sabinillas and El Castillo (…), a population that can triple during the summer period.”
That factor of 3 changes the experience entirely depending on the month. The same 35.30 km² shifts from quiet winter village to saturated destination with nothing else altering.
The terrain does not help concentrate it either: “a series of rolling hills that rise in steps from the sea inland.”
In cold numbers, the council gives four:
- 18 ºC of average temperature.
- 750 litres per square metre of annual rainfall.
- 128 metres of average altitude.
- 35 km to Gibraltar and 97 km to the provincial capital.
A castle of 1767 on top of a Roman villa
The Castillo de la Duquesa occupies “the place where in other times there was a Roman villa, part of whose material was reused in its construction”.
It was raised in 1767 by a resident of Seville, don Francisco Paulino, at his own expense, and the council adds the reward: “for which the king granted him command of a cavalry company.” The plan and site management went to the engineer don Miguel del Castillo.
Inside is a museum holding pieces from the neighbouring site, dated “from the end of the 1st century AD to the beginning of the 5th”. No opening hours or prices are published for it.
The neighbourhood that grew at the castle’s foot now gives its name to one of the municipality’s three centres.
Two sites with the highest listing
| Site | Period | What survives |
|---|---|---|
| Los Castillejos de Alcorrín | 9th century BC | A large walled fortress |
| Surroundings of the Castillo de la Duquesa | 1st to 5th century AD | Necropolis, villa, baths and salting factory |
Of Los Castillejos de Alcorrín the council highlights a blend: “elements of the indigenous world coexist with construction techniques of clear Phoenician affinity.” It belongs to the Late Bronze Age and evidences contact with “the first Phoenician colonists”.
The Roman one has a plain economic cause. It arose “as a consequence of the canning industry that revolved around tuna fishing in almadrabas”, the trap-net fisheries. It is the same trade behind the coast described in where Malaga’s fish comes from and at Villa Antiopa.
What the council does not publish is the date of either listing, or whether the sites can be visited, so neither is filled in here.
A farmstead created to repopulate the coast
The Ayuntamiento de Manilva tells the origin without dressing it up: in 1530 the “Cortijo de Manilva” was created, “always dependent on Casares”.
And it explains why: to “repopulate the land closest to the coast in order to mitigate as far as possible the presence of North African piracy”, which the emptiness of the shoreline had encouraged.
Before that, the area answered to somewhere else. After the Muslim conquest the settlement pattern was rural and scattered, revolving around “the fortress and medina located in present-day Casares”, the village covered in what to see in Casares.
The Guadiaro river, today the boundary with Cádiz province, was “for years the frontier of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada”, and in 1485 Casares surrendered to the Christian troops.
The church that took seven years, and how the trip fits
The parish church of Santa Ana, on the Plaza de la Iglesia, was raised over an earlier and “smaller” temple “of the late 16th century”. Three parties funded it: the bishopric, the townspeople and the Duke of Arcos, lord of the town. Master builder Felipe Pérez began in 1776 and the work was declared finished in 1783 — 7 years for a village church.
Manilva is the south-western tip of the province and, in the council’s words, “the meeting point between the Costa del Sol and the Campo de Gibraltar”.
That puts it within reach of two very different days out: Estepona from Malaga, a short hop along the coast, and Gibraltar from Malaga, 35 kilometres away.
The municipality’s awarded beaches are counted in blue flag beaches, the whitewashed villages of the west in the white villages route, and at 97 kilometres from the capital it is car country, which fits day trips from Malaga.
Frequently asked questions about Manilva
What archaeological sites are there at Manilva?
Two listed as Bien de Interés Cultural: Los Castillejos de Alcorrín, a walled fortress of the 9th century BC, and the surroundings of the Castillo de la Duquesa, Roman, with a necropolis, a villa, baths and a fish-salting factory.
How far is Manilva from Malaga?
97 kilometres from the provincial capital and 35 from Gibraltar, according to Manilva council, which places the municipality at the south-western tip of the province as the meeting point between the Costa del Sol and the Campo de Gibraltar.
How many centres does Manilva have?
Three, according to the council: Manilva, Sabinillas and El Castillo, plus numerous urbanisations. The published register gives 18,818 inhabitants, a figure the council itself says can triple during the summer period.
A farmstead of 1530 grown into three centres, with two protected sites and three times the people each summer.