Browse Costa Sunsets homes for sale across Marbella and the wider Costa del Sol.
Calahonda, Mijas Costa
This luxury off-plan villa is situated in a prime, elevated corner plot in Calahonda, Mijas Costa, Malaga, offering breathtaking panoramic views of the Mediter…
Calahonda, Mijas Costa
Presenting a brand new off-plan villa located in the sought-after Calahonda area of Mijas Costa, Malaga, just 200 metres from the scenic beaches of the Costa d…
We have been viewing homes on this hillside since the toll road was new. Twenty years on, we know which cul-de-sacs catch the evening breeze, which communities keep their gardens in order, and which villas are priced on hope rather than evidence — and we will always tell you which is which.
“They found us a frontline villa that wasn't even on the open market. Smooth, honest.”
“Three viewings, no pressure, sound advice on schools. Best agency on the coast.”
“Bianca speaks Dutch, knew our notary, and introduced us to other Dutch families nearby.”
Calahonda is one of the largest urbanisations on the Costa del Sol, and while apartments make up much of the stock, the villas are what give the upper slopes their character. The detached homes cluster on the hillside above the coast road, in pockets like El Coto, where the streets climb and the plots open up to sea views across to Fuengirola and, on a clear day, the African coast. Most are three- or four-bedroom houses with a private pool and a manageable garden; you'll also find the occasional two-bedroom villa lower down and a handful of larger five-bedroom homes near the top.
As a guide, three- and four-bedroom villas here generally run from the high-six-figures into the low millions, with the newer architect-built homes and the best sea-view plots reaching higher again. Buyers are typically British and northern European families and retirees after a permanent or long-stay home, alongside second-home owners who want garden space and privacy without leaving easy reach of Marbella, about twenty minutes west, or Málaga airport, around half an hour east. We'll always tell you which of these homes are priced ahead of what the plot and the view actually justify, and why.
Calahonda is where the Costa del Sol first learnt to build a community rather than a resort. Juan Orbaneja laid out Sitio de Calahonda in 1963 on roughly three hundred hectares of hillside acquired with the Van Dulken family, and six decades of steady growth have produced something closer to a small town than an urbanisation: around fifteen thousand people live here through the winter, not just the summer. The community is firmly international — British and Irish above all, with Dutch, Scandinavian and Spanish households alongside — and the mix runs from retired couples in the upper avenues to younger families and remote workers who want Fuengirola's services without Fuengirola's density. Lower Calahonda, between the A-7 and the sea, is genuinely walkable, with supermarkets, pharmacies, medical clinics and a long run of restaurants; the upper hill is quieter, greener and built around its umbrella pines. People who buy here tend to stay, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Villas set the tone in Calahonda, with town houses a close second; apartments fill in along the lower slopes and the seafront. The villa stock is largely Andalusian in character — white walls, clay-tiled roofs, mature gardens on pine-shaded plots — built from the seventies through the nineties and increasingly renovated to open-plan, glass-fronted standards. Town house communities such as Jardines de Calahonda, laid out in the mid-eighties around generous green space, and Calypso, between Riviera del Sol and the El Zoco centre, offer two and three bedrooms with communal pools and far less upkeep than a private plot. Doña Lola and the beachside communities below the A-7 add low-rise apartments within a few minutes' walk of the coves. The street names tell the story of the place — the spine is Avenida de España, and Calle Don José de Orbaneja remembers the founder. What you will not find is high-rise: the planning here has kept the skyline to the treetops.
Calahonda has always traded at a sensible discount to its Marbella neighbours, and that remains its quiet advantage. Apartments generally sit between about €180,000 and €350,000 depending on position and condition. Town houses typically run from around €300,000 to €550,000, with the best-kept communities and sea views pushing higher. Villas start at roughly €600,000 for honest, dated houses on good plots — the renovation opportunities — and run to between €1m and €2m once a home has been modernised or newly built; only exceptional plots and frontline positions go beyond that. For comparison, an equivalent villa a few kilometres west across the municipal boundary, in Marbella's Cabopino or Elviria, would usually carry a meaningful premium. Our standing promise applies here as everywhere: we will always tell you which homes are over-priced and why — and in Calahonda the commonest reason is a 'renovated' villa where the works stopped at the paint.
Families are well served without leaving the hill. Calahonda International College teaches children from three to eighteen on Calle Don José de Orbaneja, inside the urbanisation itself, and St Anthony's College — among the oldest international schools on the coast — is a short drive along the A-7, with Spanish state schools in La Cala de Mijas and Las Lagunas for those going the local route. Day to day, El Zoco and the Doña Lola centre cover shopping, banking and restaurants, and a small tourist train links the hill with the beach in season. Getting around is straightforward: the A-7 passes through the lower urbanisation, the AP-7 toll road has its own Calahonda exit, and buses run between Fuengirola and Marbella roughly every half hour along the coast road. Málaga airport is about thirty-five kilometres away — half an hour in normal traffic — and the Cercanías train at Fuengirola, fifteen minutes east, connects to the airport and Málaga centre.
The coast below Calahonda is a string of sandy coves broken by low rock, quieter than the long town beaches either side, with the Senda Litoral boardwalk running along the shore towards La Cala de Mijas in one direction and Cabopino in the other. Cabopino itself — a small marina beside the protected Artola dunes — is five minutes west and does harbourside-dinner duty. Golfers are spoilt for choice without long drives: La Siesta, a nine-hole par-three course, sits inside the urbanisation; Miraflores Golf is laid out across the next hillside; Cabopino Golf is just west of the boundary; and Calanova Golf Club is ten minutes up behind La Cala. Add tennis and padel clubs, year-round beach bars and the gyms and clinics of the lower town, and the lifestyle case makes itself — this is a place built for living in, not just visiting.
Sitio de Calahonda is maintained by its own conservation entity — the EUC — which looks after roads, gardens, lighting and security across the urbanisation, and we always set out the EUC charge alongside any community fees before you commit to a purchase. We will also walk you through the honest trade-offs: homes close to the A-7 hear it, the upper hill really needs a car, and older communities vary widely in how well they have been kept — differences that rarely show in photographs but always show in resale values. That candour is how we work along this stretch of coast, and Calahonda rewards it; the gap between a well-bought villa here and a badly bought one is wide, and entirely avoidable. If you would like a shortlist matched to your budget, or simply a second opinion on a home you have already seen, drop us a line.
Villa prices in Calahonda vary widely by plot, position and condition. Two-bedroom villas tend to start in the mid-to-high hundreds of thousands of euros, three- and four-bedroom homes generally run from the high-six-figures into the low millions, and the largest modern villas on prime sea-view plots can reach several million euros. Hillside position and an unobstructed sea view carry a clear premium over homes set back from the slope.
The detached villas in Calahonda are concentrated on the hillside above the N-340 coast road, away from the denser apartment blocks near the beach. El Coto is the best-known villa pocket, sitting high enough for sea views and quieter streets, with its own supermarkets, restaurants and chemists. Plots lower down the slope sit closer to the beach and the commercial centre but give up some of the view.
Villas in Calahonda are popular with British and northern European families and retirees looking for a permanent or long-stay home, as well as second-home buyers who want a private pool and garden. The draw is space and privacy at more approachable prices than central Marbella, while staying close to Marbella itself, Fuengirola, several golf courses such as La Siesta and Miraflores, and Málaga airport.
Calahonda — formally Sitio de Calahonda — sits at the western end of Mijas Costa, on the boundary with Marbella's municipality at Cabopino. Fuengirola is about ten to fifteen minutes east by car, Marbella fifteen to twenty minutes west, and Málaga airport roughly thirty-five kilometres away, around half an hour's drive. The A-7 coast road passes through the lower urbanisation and the AP-7 toll motorway has its own Calahonda exit.
Apartments in Calahonda generally sit between about €180,000 and €350,000. Town houses typically run from around €300,000 to €550,000, and villas from roughly €600,000 for dated homes on good plots up to between €1m and €2m once renovated or newly built. Sea views, walkable lower positions and well-run communities carry the clearest premiums, and equivalent homes across the boundary in Marbella usually cost meaningfully more.
Yes — Calahonda functions as a small town rather than a holiday resort. Around fifteen thousand people live there permanently, supported by supermarkets, pharmacies, medical clinics, gyms, the El Zoco and Doña Lola commercial centres, and Calahonda International College inside the urbanisation itself. The community is strongly international, with British, Irish, Dutch and Scandinavian residents alongside Spanish households, and services keep running through the winter.
La Siesta, a nine-hole par-three course, lies within the Calahonda urbanisation itself. Miraflores Golf occupies the neighbouring hillside, Cabopino Golf is just west of the boundary, and Calanova Golf Club is about ten minutes away behind La Cala de Mijas. The championship courses of Marbella's Golf Valley and La Cala Resort are within roughly twenty to twenty-five minutes' drive.
Sitio de Calahonda is managed by an Entidad Urbanística de Conservación (EUC), a conservation entity that maintains the roads, gardens, street lighting and security across the whole urbanisation. Owners pay an annual EUC charge in addition to any community fees for their own complex. The amounts vary by property and community, so we set out both figures for every home we show before you make an offer.
