Costa del Sol - Granada [antikvár]

, ai* l I f 1. ? I - . P DEtSOL Up and up it goes: the ride in the cable car from base to summit takes only 15 minutes, but it's a journey into another world, far away from the beaches, the promenades, the high life around the marinas and the resorts with their concrete sprawls. The cable car's shadow glides across the last of Benalmádena's rooftops, over the tops of the pine trees and up the steep slopes. The destination is the 769m {2,523ft) summit of Mount Calamorro, which rises like a throne over the Costa del Sol. From up here, large parts of the coast are laid out before you; far away to the left you can see the suburbs of Málaga reaching far inland. Straight ahead on the horizon boats dot the gleaming Mediterranean. And in the distance away to the right - where could that be? A quick rub of the eyes. It might be a little blurred in the haze but there, gingerly revealing itself, is the coast of Morocco. The proximity of the African continent was a decisive factor in the invasion of Spain in 711 AD that would influence the development of Europe for centuries. Muslim Arabs and Berbers crossed over to the Iberian Peninsula, conquered the kingdom of the Photo: Almunécar WÉmi