Benalmadena was originally a village growing around a mine, the name was given to the town by the Arabs. Benalmadena means "son of the mines". These were the first steps of Benalmádena Pueblo, the seed which grew until the present where the town counts more than 50.000 inhabitants.

The first human traces in Benalmadena go back to the superior paleolitic period. This was prooved by arqueological remains like utensils and cave-paintings which were found in the caves of the Toro, de Los Botijos and de La Zorrera.

Afterwards, like everywhere on the Costa del Sol, the Phenicians passed over a long period, this people was expanding its markets along the Andalusian coastline. The arrival of the Phenicians was during the 8th and 7th century b.C. and they developped important activities concerning agricultural economy, stock-breeding and commerce.

Later it was the Romans who left the mark on the land as many ruins still destify. Their trading was mainly thuna and the Garum. The Garum, which is a liquid extracted from the Red Thuna was one of the manjares of the Cesars of the Imperial Rome. Many important witnesses of Roman times are still in historical sites like Benal-Roma, and in
areas of Torremuelle and Capellanía.

However, here we have to point out, that it was not before the arrival of the Romans in the 8th Century, when this town was founded. Benalmadena, the sons of the mines, this is the name given by the Musulmans, because of the surrounding mines. The Arabs left a deep impression on this municipality. They founded, what is today known as Benalmadena-Pueblo next to Mijas. So the Arabs overtook the watchtowers along the coastline of the Costa del Sol and amongst others, also Benalmadena.

Afterwards, during the Reconquista of the Iberic peninsula, by the Catholic Kings, Benalmadena, was part of the realm of Granada until the locality and the realm of Granada were incorporated in the crown of Castilla. This took place in 1456 by King Enrique IV.

In the 18th Century, the Italian Felix Silesio founded what is known as the Arroyo de la Miel, an area of Benalmadena which grew rapidly with the developpment of the railway between Fuengirola and Málaga and which was connecting the region with the rest of Spain.
The arrival of the railway at the beginning of the 20th Century and the tourist book as from the secong half of this same Century, have seen to that Benalmadena is today one of the major tourist targets of the whole country.

Of all these epoques, can one find today in Benalmadena contemporary witnesses of cultural inerest like the caves, the watch towers, some Arab, some Christian, the Roman factory of salzones, where they extracted the Garum... and other more modern sites like the Buddhist statue, which is the most important of western Europe; then the paper factory of Arroyo de la Miel, the portals of the Paloma park....