Properties for sale in El Higuerón, Fuengirola.

El Higuerón's hillside above Carvajal — duplex penthouses with sea views, a sport club at its core, Málaga twenty minutes away.

Where El Higuerón sits

El Higuerón occupies the hillside at the eastern edge of Fuengirola, rising above Carvajal beach at the point where the coast bends towards Benalmádena. The municipal boundary runs through the urbanisation — which town hall you answer to depends on the street — though in practice the whole hill works as a single, resort-led neighbourhood. The A-7 passes the foot of the slope, Málaga airport is around twenty minutes by car, Marbella roughly half an hour, and Carvajal station on the Málaga–Fuengirola Cercanías line sits a few hundred metres from the southern entrance.

Duplex penthouses set the tone

The duplex penthouse is the signature home here — two storeys, a rooftop solarium, often a private plunge pool, and the sea filling the view from the upper terrace. Apartments make up most of the rest, from garden-level flats to three-bedroom corner units, with sky villas and a modest run of detached homes higher on the ridge. Reserva del Higuerón is the established core; Higuerón West, masterplanned by Broadway Malyan, spreads the newer phases across the slope between green corridors and cycle paths; Higuerón Beach sits closest to the shore. Ownership generally brings access to the resort itself — the sport club with its gym, tennis and padel courts and spa, the Hilton Curio Collection hotel, and Sollo, Diego Gallegos's Michelin-starred restaurant.

Who the hill suits

El Higuerón draws a younger, sportier buyer than much of the coast — people who will actually use the padel courts rather than admire them. Scandinavians are well represented, helped by the Norwegian and Danish schools in neighbouring Benalmádena; British and Irish owners, and Málaga professionals who commute by train, make up much of the rest. Families have Colegio Salliver in Fuengirola and The British College and Colegio Internacional Torrequebrada within an easy drive, and golfers reach Torrequebrada and Mijas Golf inside twenty minutes. It also works well as a lock-up-and-leave, since the resort looks after itself between visits.

What you'd typically pay

Newer two- and three-bedroom apartments generally run from around €500,000 to €750,000, with older resale flats on the lower slopes starting nearer €300,000. Duplex penthouses typically range from about €600,000 to €1.5 million depending on phase, floor and the width of the sea view; sky villas and detached villas run from roughly €1.3 million to beyond €3 million. The premium between phases is real but not always rational — two near-identical penthouses can sit a long way apart on asking price — and we'll always tell you which figure is the honest one.

Getting around

The Cercanías is the quiet advantage. Trains run every twenty minutes or so from Carvajal, reaching Fuengirola centre in a few minutes one way and Málaga airport and the city in under half an hour the other, and a resort shuttle links the hill to the station and the beach. The slope itself is genuinely steep — from the upper phases the walk down to Carvajal beach is pleasant and the walk back is exercise — so most owners keep a car, and we'll tell you frankly which blocks manage happily without one.

How we work

We are a family firm, and we have spent twenty years watching hillsides like this one get built out — so we know which phases were finished well and which were finished fast. We will walk El Higuerón with you, time the hill, open the sport club doors, and tell you plainly which homes are over-priced and why. If the right home here is a duplex penthouse with the sea over the rooftops — or honestly somewhere else along this coast — we will say so. Tell us what you are looking for and drop us a line.