Getting around Mijas: taxi, bus and parking

The honest answer: on the coast you manage fine without a car, but with a car you see more. La Cala de Mijas and urbanisations like Riviera del Sol are walkable, and the coastal bus links everything to Fuengirola and Marbella. For Mijas Pueblo, the mountains and day trips, your own wheels or a taxi are the most comfortable.

Our rule of thumb for guests: no car needed if you mainly want beach, restaurants and the village. Do get a car (or a couple of separate rental days) if you play golf, want to head into the Sierra or plan day trips. For the arrival itself we have a separate guide on getting from Málaga airport to Mijas Costa.

Mijas has its own taxi service with ranks in Mijas Pueblo, La Cala and Las Lagunas. Calling or using the rank always works; expect normal Spanish rates with supplements for night rides and the airport. For short hops along the coast (La Cala to Fuengirola, say) a taxi is decent value, especially with four of you.

Apps like Uber and Bolt work increasingly well on the Costa del Sol, but coverage outside Fuengirola and Marbella varies: in high season you will almost always find a ride, in winter it can go quiet. Our advice: install both apps and save the local taxi number too. Then you are never stuck.

Two bus lines do all the work for visitors. The M-122 runs from Fuengirola bus station up to Mijas Pueblo: a short, cheap ride with proper hairpin bends and ever better views. And along the coast, the Fuengirola to Marbella bus follows the old coastal road, stopping at Riviera del Sol, Calahonda and La Cala de Mijas.

The coastal bus is surprisingly usable: hop on at the stop along the N-340, pay a few euros and skip all parking. Do allow for Spanish frequencies (sometimes half an hour to an hour between buses) and check current times online or at the stop. From Fuengirola you can also take the Cercanías train, which runs every half hour between Fuengirola, the airport and Málaga city.

Mijas Pueblo is the easiest: at the entrance of the village sits a large public car park, with open lots around it. On busy days (weekends, holidays, summer evenings) the multi-storey is your best friend; the little streets were never made for cars. In La Cala de Mijas you park on the lots around the centre and along the promenade; in July and August the rule is: come early or come on foot.

At the beaches outside the centres (like the chiringuitos of Mijas Costa) parking is usually free and informal on sandy lots. Watch for blue zones everywhere (paid, ticket from the machine) and yellow kerbs (no parking). And never leave belongings visible in the car, not even for five minutes.

For a beach holiday in La Cala or Riviera del Sol a hire car is not a must. For everything else it is a comfort. Our middle way: do not rent for the whole holiday, but for two or three separate days when you go out and do something, like the Caminito del Rey, Málaga city or a loop of white villages.

Renting at Málaga airport is almost always cheapest and easiest. Book ahead in high season, pick a company with honest fuel terms and take photos of the car at pickup. Standard advice, but it saves arguments.

From our penthouse in Riviera del Sol it works like this: we walk to the beach and the chiringuito, La Cala is a few minutes by car or coastal bus, and for a tapas evening in Fuengirola we take a taxi so nobody has to drive.

Mijas Pueblo we prefer late afternoon: park in the multi-storey, golden hour at the viewpoints, dinner in the village and home again in twenty minutes. Suddenly sprawling Mijas feels very compact.