Benahavís is one of the most mountainous villages at the western end of the Costa del Sol between the resorts of Marbella and Estepona. It stands 500 metres above sea level, just 7 kilometres inland from the Guadalmina Golf Course, and can reached by driving through the rio Guadalmina gorge up into the hills. The municipality extends to 14,575 hectares with more than 70% of the area classified as being of environmental interest.
Benahavis has the highest concentration of high class restaurants in the region and remains remarkably unspoiled, with winding narrow streets. Its Moorish heritage is emphasised by the ruined eleventh century Montemayor Castle of Montemayor which is an ancient Arab stronghold which sits on top of the highest mountain in the area. If you make the climb to visit the ruins you will be rewarded with sensational views of the coastline with Gibraltar and Africa being visible on a clear day.
A notable feature of Benahavis is La Aldea which is almost a village within a village and was the brainchild of the British sculptor David Marshall (whose gallery is one of its main features). Though a fairly recent creation it is very Andalucian with marble fountains, antiques and traditional doors and grilles.
Las Angosturas is a narrow canyon carved out by the centuries of flow from the River Guadalmina. one of the most beautiful areas around Benahavís. Here you will find a great variety of flora and fauna with rabbits, partridges and other birds as well as foxes, genet and mountain goats and a rare deer species called the Moflón del Atlas. Benahavis is only place outside Africa where this animal lives wild.
The region is heavily wooded with oaks, chestnut trees, pines, cork trees and arbutus. It is scented with typical Mediterranean herbs like rock rose, thyme and rosemary and in the southern end closer to the coast you will find vineyards, palm trees and cereal plantations. Here too is the Charca de las Mozas where the water runs very fast and creates whirlpools. Legend has it that a bride once bathed there and was sucked into the whirling waters, and when her groom jumped in to save her he was drowned.
