Ancient History

The village wasabandoned in early Middle Ages, for unknown reasons. It is thought as most ofthem were destroyed by a tsunami, the withdrawal to the mountains (Mijas) boundby the resurgence of piracy or due to the Visigoth hordes.

After this time there is no information about the village until the Arabsconquered the area from North Africa. Sohailwent on to be called (Suhayl) as well as the castle which dominated thepopulation.

The castle was called this because according to legend, the starSohail (the Canopusof the Romans, which is the brightest and the southern hemisphere guide to thenomadic desert) could only be seen from this castle. Sohail then had a fairlylengthy term, fertile, with small Villares. Born in the town were famouswriters and poets, such as As-Suheli. The village was then burned and again theresidents withdrew to Mijas.

On August 7, 1485 incelebration of San Cayetano, patron-Fuengirola Sohail Castle was conquered byChristian troops, being in command of the squadron of the Count Trivento,Garcelan Requesens, and the ground troops of the Marquis Cadiz, Rodrigo Poncede Leon.

After the conquest, there was an attempt torepopulate the area, but the threat of invasion from northern Africaand other factors such as scarcity of land to buy, near Fuengirola, explain thefailure of reforestation, and in 1511 it appears as an unpopulated area, beingreduced to a defensive fortress and coastal surveillance

Fuengirola wasfounded by the Phoenicians, although it was previously believed that an Iberiansettlement may have existed. In the texts of Hecateo in 500 a. C., he referredto Syalis, suggesting that they might have been one of the Punic colonies onthe coast of Malaga.

This same name played Mela, Pliny and Ptolemy, which lies between Malacca andSalduba as a fortified village. From the third century BC and after the SecondPunic War, Syalis, like all municipalities in the northern and southern fringeof Hispania, becomes Roman.

The Roman presence was the most importantand they renamed the area Soil. In the town, which became an important cityfederation, the Romans left traces such as baths and the villa of the farm or theSecretary Saladero that are at the foot of