Extension planned to the Costa del Sol coastal footpath near San Pedro – but where are other gaps and how close is it to being finally completed?

ESTEPONA town hall has announced plans to fill in a segment of the footpath linking Guadalmina Baja and Casasola as the 160km Costa del Sol coastal path takes another step towards completion.

Nine companies have already submitted offers to build the 673-metre section, which will be laid in stamped concrete and connect existing stretches at either end. 

Mayor Jose García Urbano described the works as ‘another step’ towards finishing the coastal footpath, one of the town’s flagship projects.

The walkway will connect paths at either end of the site, finally giving walkers, joggers and even cyclists the ability to continue on their journey in this stretch without deviating inland.

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The Estepona council says that around 95% of its coastline is already walkable.

Other pending links awaiting permits include Bahia Dorada, just west of Estepona town heading towards Casares; Isdabe-Atalaya, close to the beachside hotels and golf courses near El Paraíso.

The project to connect Costa Natura, next to the naturist resort near Casares costa, is still in draft form.

The wider Costa del Sol walkway, officially called the Senda Litoral, is an ambitious scheme to create a continuous seaside route from Manilva to Malaga, covering more than 160 kilometres. 

It is already passable along most of the coast, but frustrating gaps remain in every municipality.

In Manilva, at the far western end of the Costa del Sol near the Cadiz border, stretches at Punta Chullera and Playa Paraíso are still pending, along with a footbridge over the Arroyo Peñuela.

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In Marbella, most of the route is complete, but small breaks remain around river mouths and between urbanisations. 

These include gaps near the Río Guadaiza in San Pedro, close to the luxury development of Guadalmina; at Torre del Duque, between San Pedro and Puerto Banús; and alongside Banús itself, the famous marina.

In Mijas, east of Marbella, paperwork is delaying two important links. 

One is a 1.3-kilometre stretch between El Capricho and El Juncal, near La Cala de Mijas. Another section, also by La Cala, is awaiting sectoral reports before work can begin.

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Fuengirola is advancing plans for a new footbridge over the Arroyo El Jardín on its western edge, while Benalmadena, is pressing forward with a 700-metre stretch close to its beachside hotels and says it is working to unblock other pending links.

Further east, most of Torremolinos and Malaga city is already walkable. 

The remaining short stretches are scattered along the coast, with one near the Peñon del Cuervo, a rocky outcrop popular with day-trippers on Malaga’s eastern fringe, still listed as ‘in project’.

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No firm completion date has yet been set for when the last pieces will fall into place, but local officials stress that steady progress is being made. 

Once finished, it will finally be possible to walk or cycle without interruption from the Cadiz border all the way into Malaga city.

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