Tourist Information

Situated at the foot of the northern face of the Sierra de Mijas, looking out over the beautiful Guadalhorce Valley, its territory is made up of citrus and other fruit trees and vegetable gardens. Alhaurin el Grande is a prosperous village whose most interesting monuments are Our Lady's Church, the Town Hall and Montellano Palace. Also worthy of mention is Los Corchos Mill, which is still in excellent condition and works exactly as it did in Moslem times.

The Alhaurin el Grande gastronomy is ample and varied with typical plates such as: 'migas' breadcrumbs fried with garlic and 'gachas cachorreñas' porridge with spices, 'allullas', 'dolcas', patties, sauce, broths, garlic soup, and many desserts such as sponge cakes, oil buns, fritters, macaroons, date bread, egg rusks, fried rusks, French toast and oil cakes.

History
In the forested areas south-east of the village of Alhaurín el Grande there are traces of Neolithic occupation: silent witnesses to the long history of human habitation of the area
Neolithic, Phoenician, Greek, Roman and Arabic settlers have all left their mark on the area.

By the time that the Romans arrived, the tiny Iberian settlement in the Sierra de Mijas was already well established, but if it had a name the Romans chose not to record it and they gave it one of their own. The village became Lauro Nova. It was a spot apparently blessed by the gods: fertile, temperate, and surrounded by hills riddled with valuable mineral deposits. Roman villas popped up around the kernel of the village like dozens of Jack-in-the-Boxes springing open in rapid sequence. The hills are still dotted with their remains.

It was a golden age which became a little tarnished during the time of the Visigoths. The town was in no danger of disappearing, but its development was exceedingly slow. It was not until the Moors took it on and built it a fortress on a hilltop called Torres de Fahala that it began to move again. The Moors also gave it a new name: Alhaurín (Garden of Allah). Like the Romans before them, they linked the township to a second to which they gave the same name, distinguishing them as Alhaurín el Grande and Alhaurín de la Torre. To the Romans they had been Lauro Nova and Lauro Vetus.
The fort was destroyed in the destructive zeal of the Christian reconquest, but at least the village survived. Others close by, such as Benamaquis and Fahala were not so fortunate.

Alhaurín el Grande has survived a great deal. Waves of invaders, epidemics of plague, even an earthquake in 1680. During the Peninsula War of 1808-14 it was occupied for four years by French troops and suffered considerable bombardment.
It would not be surprising, therefore, if all traces of its long past had been regularly obliterated. But some has miraculously survived. There is the 12th Century Moorish archway, the Arcos de Cobertizo, which, while not being in any way spectacular (it stands close to the church and now leads nowhere) but at least it represents a tangible link with the past. In the small plaza in front of the town hall, the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, are three Roman columns which were discovered close by at Fuente del Sol. Unlike some other villages in the hills, Alhaurín el Grande acknowledges that it has a history, and is quietly proud of it. The plaza, incidentally, has a superb view of the valley. One of the town's best attractions for visitors, and it is well signposted, is the Moorish Cork Mill.