Fuengirola: Finland’s most southerly town

Fuengirola has long been known locally as ‘little Finland, and in Finland, Fuengirola is known as the country’s most southerly town.

It has a lot to do with the Finnish airline Finnair, which made this Costa del Sol town as its first destination in Spain. This led, over time, to the establishment of a small colony here; according to the Viajar portal it’s the largest Finnish colony in the world.

When this air route between Finland and Fuengirola was set up, the country was going through the process of independence, a situation that led many of its citizens to travel to other places and finding Fuengirola, its sun, its beaches and its quality of life. And this led many of these Finns to settle in the province of Malaga.

There are just over 5,000 Finnish inhabitants living in Fuengirola according to the latest census data, with a large presence in the neighbourhood of Los Pacos. In fact, the link between Fuengirola and Finland is so strong that in many supermarkets and food shops there are plenty of Finnish products.

Johanna Pesonen of Finnish real estate agency Huugo247 based in Fuengirola says, “It’s the light, the lifestyle and of course, the climate, which attracts so many buyers from Finland.

The area also attracts many tourists from the country and Fuengirola is consolidating its position as a top tourist destination for Finns by promoting itself at the Matka International Tourism Fair being held in January 2024 in Helsinki.