The Costa del Sol as in international destination for tourism came into being about 50 years ago. In those days it was not uncommon for wealthy people to wander around the world searching for new and exotic destinations and the Costa del Sol became one of them. Soon the word was out and shortly after its "discovery" the small fishing and farming villages along the Costa del Sol that embodied the character of this area began attracting more and more visitors to the region. This was to be the beginning of mass tourism as it is today, and the start of the history of the Costa del Sol.
Nobody knows for sure how the Costa del Sol got its name. It could have been a promotional name coined in the 1929 Seville Spanish-American Fair. Others say that it was an Austrian Consul who came up with the name after settling in Cadiz. The Consul would make frequent trips along the coast of Andalucia (from Cadiz to Almeria) and always praised the long hours of sunshine that he would enjoy on these trips.
The beginnings of tourism on the Costa del Sol brings us back to an Englishman by the name of George Langworthy, also known as "el ingles", who settled in Torremolinos with his wife at the end of the 19th century. The couple lived in the Santa Clara castle and used to charge 1 peseta a day to foreigners who wished to stay in their home.
The beginning of mass-tourism and also resorts on the Costa del Sol can be traced back to a woman called Carlota Alessadri Tettamanzy who converted one of her properties into what was to become later the Parador de Montemar. Shortly after she added two other hotels. Within just a few years Torremolinos had become a bustling resort well known all over Europe.
