When on holiday in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol, supermarket shopping is normally a part of the experience and there is an excellent range of supermarkets to choose from. We have picked five of the best supermarkets in the area to give you an idea of what is on offer.
Dani
Situated in Calle Lanzarote, close to the highway and the El Corte Ingles shopping complex, Dani offers a full shopping experience.
Not only does the supermarket offer the usual range of groceries at reasonable prices, but also offers a perfumery, greengrocers, butchery, fishmonger and bakery. On offer are various items for the home as well as camping accessories, items for the garden, beachwear and related items and home appliances. There is a full range of necessities for babies, including bath and cleaning products and those ever-important disposable nappies and baby wipes as well as baby and toddler foods.
The supermarket itself tends to sell the preferred Spanish grocery items, with the odd typical English product here and there.
The supermarket is open Monday to Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and then again from 5:00 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. In the summer months the supermarket is also open on Sundays. Some of the staff speak limited English.
The supermarket is not easily reached on foot from the centre of Fuengirola, so a car is recommended. Parking is free and the supermarket offers comfortable disabled access. You can view the location of the Dani supermarket in Fuengirola on Google Maps.
Carrefour
Situated in Las Lagunas, Mijas, not far from the border of Fuengirola, Carrefour offers a shopping complex with various small shops and coffee bars, as well as the supermarket itself.
In the supermarket a full range of all grocery items can be found, including a good range of foreign and imported produce and luxury items, along with a certain amount of organic products, including vegetables and fruit. There is a good range of products for babies, including food for babies and toddlers, bath and cleaning necessities, as well as disposable nappies, baby wipes, teething rings and other handy items.
The prices are not the cheapest in town, but Carrefour does offer high quality goods and food items, as well as electrical appliances, computer-related products, books, home items, clothing, beachwear and beach accessories, among other items.
The supermarket is open from Monday to Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and on public holidays from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and some of the till staff speak limited English. The supermarket is also open on Sundays during the summer months.
The Carrefour complex can be found at Avenida de Los Lirios s/n, Las Lagunas. Again this shopping complex is not comfortably reached on foot from the centre of town, but free parking is on offer, both covered and open air, and disabled access is available.
The coffee bar and bakery just inside the main entrance comes highly recommended for a good cup of coffee, light breakfast or lunch and their bakery items are delicious. On site is a petrol station, Gasolinera Carrefour, offering good prices.
The location of the Carrefour supermarket and shopping complex can be seen here on Google Maps.
El Corte Ingles
While there is a large, super posh El Corte Ingles shopping complex on the border of Fuengirola and Mijas, complete with the Hypercor supermarket, probably the most convenient when shopping in Fuengirola is the Supercor supermarket on the ground floor of the El Corte Ingles shopping complex in Los Boliches.
The supermarket offers a good range of typical Spanish grocery items, along with a limited range of imported and foreign goods, and is gradually introducing certain organic food items, including eggs, yoghurt and other produce.
Prices are definitely not cheap at Supercor, although the supermarket regularly has special offers, with certain goods being sold with a second item at 50 percent off. The vegetables are good quality and fresh, some prepackaged and some sold loose. The range of wines is good, although they tend to go for the more expensive brands. There is a good selection of baby-related products, including necessities for cleaning, baby oil, baby powder etc. along with a selection of disposable nappies for all ages.
There is also a “parafarmacia” in the supermarket selling various health foods. Most of the till staff do speak a certain amount of English.
While the supermarket only sells the usual groceries, with a limited range of household cleaning tools and related items, a full range of men’s, women’s and children’s clothing can be found up on the first floor. Next door to the supermarket is an El Corte Ingles “perfumeria,” selling perfumes, cosmetics and other related items and next to that is a travel centre.
The supermarket can be found at Avenida. Ntro. Padre Jesús Cautivo, 33 in Los Boliches, diagonally across from the Los Boliches train station, as can be seen on Google Maps. The supermarket is open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday to Saturday and on Sundays during the summer months. Parking is free for Supercor shoppers in the building and there is easy disabled access to the supermarket both from the parking garage and main street entrance.
Mercadona
Probably the best value in supermarket shopping, there are several branches of Mercadona in Fuengirola. The most convenient branches are in the centre at Calle Córdoba , 35, close to the Fuengirola Renfe train station. The Los Boliches end of town has two branches, one almost on the beach at Avenida Ramón y Cajal s/n and another at Calle Francisco Rivera Paquirri s/n, up the hill behind the Los Boliches train station, just past the football grounds. Click on the links to see the actual locations.
While most of the produce in the supermarkets is typical Spanish fare, they do also offer the odd English item like certain brands of tea, Heinz baked beans and HP Sauce. The supermarkets offer an excellent meat and fish section, a bakery with freshly baked bread and related items, and their fruit and vegetables are quite possibly the freshest in town and come highly recommended. Besides food and cleaning items, the supermarket has a range of cosmetic products and perfumes and a good selection of products for babies and toddlers, including bath products, disposable nappies, teething rings and bibs along with other important items.
Prices at Mercadona are highly competitive as compared to other supermarkets in the area, making them one of the most affordable places to shop. Two of the Fuengirola Mercadona supermarkets have outdoor free parking and all have an underground garage, free to shoppers in the supermarkets. There is excellent disabled access both from the underground garages and from the street.
The supermarkets are open Monday to Saturday from 09:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and also on Sundays during the summer months. Some of the tellers do speak limited English.
Eroski
Situated in the Miramar Shopping Centre, Eroski Hypermarket sells an excellent range of groceries, meat and fish items, fruit and vegetables as well as the normal day-to-day typical Spanish grocery items. The supermarket also sells a limited range of foreign products.
Besides the normal food and cleaning items, Eroski sells a range of clothing, household items like cutlery, crockery and glassware and electrical appliances along with books, CDs etc. The supermarket has a good range of beachwear and other beach related necessities and a huge range of baby wear, cleaning products, baby and toddler food as well as the very necessary disposable nappies and baby wipes.
Prices are not the cheapest, but are also not the highest, making it a fair, all round, place to shop and there are often specials on offer. Staff working at the tills in the supermarket do speak limited English.
Parking is available in the car park surrounding the shopping centre and also in an underground parking garage, perfect for the hot months, at no charge. Access for the disabled is available. Shopping hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m. Monday to Saturdays and on Sundays in the summer months. The location of the Miramar Shopping Centre can be seen here on Google Maps.
Shopping Tip:
When shopping in Fuengirola, particularly on a Saturday, you will often see ladies with shopping trolleys, collecting food for the poor at the entrances of the supermarket. They are normally looking for a particular item – for example staples like long-life milk, rice, flour etc. – to make up their food boxes and really appreciate any contributions you can make. It only costs you a couple of euros, but makes a huge difference in the lives of people who have lost their jobs and/or their homes in the economic crisis.
