- Jun 14
- 2 min read
I wrote about these beaches once before, a couple of years ago. Reading it back, it's clear it was written from a particular vantage point — plates spinning, deadlines everywhere, the kind of stretch where you write the post because it's Tuesday and the calendar says so. Nothing wrong with the beaches in that post. Just not much of me in it.
So: same beaches, same coastline, written from somewhere with a bit more room to actually look at things.
The flag system, and the people who enforce it
Spanish beaches run a flag system — green, yellow, red — and a fair number of people treat it as more of a suggestion than an instruction. What those people may not have factored in is that on any beach with a red flag and a tricky entrance, there's usually a small squad of socorristas watching very closely, fully prepared to march into the water and physically remove anyone determined to test the sea's patience. If that doesn't work, the Guardia Civil are not far away and, by all appearances, quite enthusiastic about getting involved. The beaches are safe. They're safe partly because somebody is actively making sure of it, in real time, all day.
The chiringuito, an institution
A chiringuito is technically a beach bar, but that undersells it. Part restaurant, part social hub, part open-air kitchen running the same handful of dishes it's been running for decades. Espetos — sardines on a skewer, grilled over an open fire dug straight into the sand — are the main event, and they're exactly as good as everyone says. Possibly better, for reasons nobody can quite explain beyond "sand, sea air, early afternoon."
Noche de San Juan
Coming up soon, and worth knowing about if you're around for it: the Night of San Juan, when beaches up and down the coast — Fuengirola's among the most enthusiastic — light enormous bonfires and let off fireworks with a level of commitment that borders on personal vendetta. It's a proper local tradition, genuinely something to see, and also the one night of the year when every dog owner on the Costa del Sol is simultaneously checking their pet's whereabouts. If you're travelling with a dog, it's worth planning around — for them, not for you.
The dog beach
Away from the bonfire season, there's a stretch where dogs are properly welcome — not just tolerated. Watching a dog meet the sea for the first time is one of the better things you'll see all week.
The bit that's actually true
Underneath all of this, the beaches along this stretch are properly looked after — clean, accessible, free, and maintained year-round by people doing genuinely unglamorous work that mostly goes unnoticed. Several carry Blue Flag status, which is its own quiet badge of honour and, conveniently, another flag to ignore once you're in the water.
So: pack the SPF 50, bring the dog if Noche de San Juan isn't imminent, and head down. And if sand really isn't your thing — there's always the pool.
