Browse Costa Sunsets homes for sale across Marbella and the wider Costa del Sol.
La Alqueria, Mijas
Presenting an exceptional classical villa set in the coveted enclave of La Alqueria, Mijas, Malaga, this luxurious property embodies the essence of Costa del S…
We've watched La Alquería grow from quiet building plots around Atalaya into a villa address buyers ask for by name. We'll walk you up the hill, point out which streets catch the breeze and which sea views are real, and tell you honestly when a price doesn't match the plot.
“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.”
La Alqueria is a villa place first and foremost. The land was parcelled into large single-family plots, most between roughly 1,000 and 3,000 square metres, and that scale shapes everything: detached homes sitting in their own gardens, set back from quiet lanes, rather than anything packed close together. The valley curls in a horseshoe around La Alqueria Golf, with Atalaya and El Paraiso just below, so a good number of villas sit frontline to the fairways with the sea beyond and La Concha behind. It is a calm, low-density address, and people live here year-round as readily as they summer.
Most of what you will see is contemporary — open-plan ground floors, full-height glazing, flat roofs and the kind of indoor-outdoor layout built around a pool terrace and the view. Older Mediterranean-style villas turn up too, often as renovation projects on a strong plot. Four and five bedrooms is the usual count, with the occasional three-bed on a smaller parcel. Buyers tend to be families wanting space near the international schools and golf, plus second-home owners who like that it holds up as a year-round home, not just an August one. We'll always tell you which plots actually deliver the view they're priced for, and which sit a row back.
La Alquería draws people who want space, privacy and a proper garden without giving up the coast. You'll find a genuinely international mix here: Northern European families putting down roots, Scandinavians and Belgians who came for the golf and stayed, British and Irish buyers trading the Golden Mile crowds for breathing room, and a steady run of remote-working professionals who like being ten minutes from San Pedro but tucked away up the hill. It's residential rather than holiday-let in character, so it stays calm out of season. Plenty of households here have children at the nearby international schools, and plenty more are downsizing from a busier beachfront life into something greener and more private. The common thread is that people choose La Alquería on purpose, usually after looking at the noisier coastal options first.
This is villa country, first and foremost. La Alquería is built on a grid of large single-family plots, so the housing stock is dominated by detached villas sitting in their own grounds with private pools, off-street parking and room to breathe. The newer wave is firmly contemporary, the kind of low, white, glass-fronted homes with open-plan living, big terraces oriented to the sea and the golf, and basements turned into cinemas, gyms and garages. Alongside them you'll still find the original Andalusian-style villas, with terracotta roofs, arches and mature gardens, often on the most generous early plots. Because the area was laid out as plots rather than a single estate, there's real variety in age and style from one street to the next, and bare building plots with project licences still come up for those who want to build their own. Apartments and townhouses are the exception rather than the rule here, so if it's a villa with land you're after, this is the right hillside.
La Alquería sits in the upper-mid to premium band for Benahavís, and the price almost always tracks the plot size and the view. As a rough guide, more modest villas and the older Andalusian homes that need updating generally start somewhere in the low single-digit millions of euros. A well-finished contemporary villa with a clean sea view typically runs in the middle millions, and the larger turnkey estates with the best frontline-golf or panoramic positions extend well above that. Building plots, when they appear, are priced heavily on their views, orientation and what the project licence allows. We'll always tell you when an asking price is running ahead of the plot, the build quality or the actual view, because the gap between a real sea view and a glimpse of the sea between two roofs can be enormous, and so can the difference in price it justifies.
The pull of La Alquería is that it feels removed and green while everything practical is a short drive downhill. Golf is on the doorstep, with Atalaya Golf & Country Club right alongside and El Paraíso, Guadalmina and Severiano Ballesteros' Los Arqueros all within a few minutes. The nearest beaches are the Guadalmina and Golden Mile stretches, around ten minutes away, with San Pedro de Alcántara town just five kilometres downhill for supermarkets, the boulevard, restaurants and daily life. Puerto Banús is roughly ten minutes for marina dining and shopping, Marbella around fifteen, and Estepona about fifteen to twenty. For families, the international schools are a genuine draw: Colegio Atalaya and a Montessori school are close by, with Aloha College near Nueva Andalucía and San José in Estepona both an easy commute. The AP-7 toll motorway is moments away at the bottom of the hill, putting Málaga Airport at roughly forty-five minutes to an hour depending on traffic, and Gibraltar a similar run in the other direction.
We've spent twenty years on this stretch of coast, and La Alquería is one of those areas where local knowledge genuinely changes the outcome. Because the plots were sold and built individually over many years, two villas on the same street can be worlds apart on orientation, privacy, noise from the motorway below and how the afternoon sun and the breeze actually behave. We walk every property with you at the right time of day, we're straight about which homes are over-priced and why, and we flag the practical things that don't show up in photographs, from steep access and shared roads to the realities of a build licence on an empty plot. If you're weighing up La Alquería against the rest of Benahavís or the Golden Mile and want an honest, local read on what your money buys here, drop us a line.
As a guide, contemporary detached villas in La Alqueria generally start in the low-to-mid seven figures and climb well beyond that for larger frontline-golf homes with full sea views. Price turns mostly on plot size, position relative to La Alqueria Golf, the extent of the view, and whether the build is new or due for renovation. Building plots alone trade lower, which is why many homes here are recent custom builds.
Plots typically run from around 1,000 to over 3,000 square metres, which is generous by Costa del Sol standards and gives villas room for landscaped gardens, a private pool and ample terracing. Built villas most commonly have four or five bedrooms, with some three-bedroom homes on smaller parcels and substantial six-bedroom properties on the largest frontline plots.
Contemporary villas dominate — open-plan interiors, large expanses of glass, clean lines and layouts designed around light, the pool terrace and the view across golf, sea and mountains. You will also find traditional Andalusian and Mediterranean-style villas, frequently offered as renovation opportunities where the plot and position carry the value.
La Alquería is a hillside residential area in the municipality of Benahavís, on the Costa del Sol between Marbella and Estepona, set around the Atalaya Golf & Country Club. You reach it off the road to Benahavís just after it leaves the N340 coast road, near the AP-7 motorway junction. San Pedro de Alcántara is about five kilometres (5 to 10 minutes) downhill, Puerto Banús and Marbella around ten to fifteen minutes, Estepona fifteen to twenty, and Málaga Airport roughly forty-five minutes to an hour.
It's overwhelmingly a villa area. La Alquería was laid out as large single-family plots, so the market is dominated by detached villas with private pools and gardens, ranging from contemporary glass-and-white new builds to original Andalusian-style homes on mature plots. Building plots with project licences also come up for those who want to design their own home. Apartments and townhouses are uncommon here, so it suits buyers who specifically want a villa with land and views.
La Alquería sits in the upper-mid to premium range for Benahavís. As a general guide, older or more modest villas needing updating tend to start in the low single-digit millions of euros, well-finished contemporary villas with a sea view usually fall in the middle millions, and large turnkey estates on the best frontline-golf or panoramic plots run well above that. Plot prices depend heavily on the view, orientation and what the licence permits. The plot size and the quality of the view drive the price more than anything else.
Golf is the area's signature: Atalaya Golf & Country Club is right alongside, and El Paraíso, Guadalmina and Los Arqueros (designed by Severiano Ballesteros) are all within a few minutes. For schooling, Colegio Atalaya and a Montessori school are close by, while Aloha College near Nueva Andalucía and San José International School in Estepona are both an easy drive, which is a big part of why families settle here year-round rather than just for holidays.
La Alquería is inland on the hillside, so it's a short drive to the sand rather than walking distance. The closest beaches are the Guadalmina and Golden Mile stretches, around ten minutes downhill, with the wider San Pedro de Alcántara and Puerto Banús beaches and beach clubs also within easy reach. You get the green, private hillside setting and panoramic sea views, with the coast and its restaurants only a few minutes away by car.
