This municipality’s terrain is so rugged that it seems to positively abhor level land, being an endless succession of ravines and hills. Due to their proximity to the sea, the hills do not rise to great altitudes. Their highest points such as La Rábita de Torrox and the Cocoja, which abound in low brush, are not more than 700 metres high. The Torrox stream, which the villagers also call Patalamara, La Plata or Argentino, crosses the municipality from north to south and its waters are used to the full for irrigation before they empty into the sea at Punta de Torrox. The municipality has nine kilometres of sandy beaches along which lie the population centres of Torrox Costa and El Morche.This municipality is an eminently agricultural landscape, but due to the extremely uneven terrain, there has been no alternative but to terrace the hills to make use of the land and make it cultivable. Thus, terraces are the most noticeable feature of an area where subtropical fruits have found a perfect home.A polished axe from the Neolithic period has been found at the hamlet of Los Casarones, some two kilometres north of the village, proving that there were already human settlements in this area at that time. It probably was also colonised by Punics or Phoenicians, considering the proximity of the Trayamar and Mezquitilla archaeological sites in Algarrobo Costa. This continues to be just a hypothesis, however, since so far no remains have been found to prove it.
The municipality of Vélez-Málaga, the largest and most populous in the La Axarquía region, lies mainly within the watershed of the River Vélez, which is formed by the Rivers Benamargosa and El Guaro and irrigates, a broad and rich lowland. This territory as a whole, however, with its terrain of medium elevation (the highest peak is Veas on the eastern slope, at 703 metres) exhibits the typical characteristics of the La Axarquía region. Due to its large area, one seventh of the entire La Axarquía region, and to the fact that it possesses the most fertile land in the region, the municipality of Vélez-Málaga includes several centres of population. They include Torre del Mar (the most tourist-oriented and highly developed), Benajarafe, Triana, Trapiche, Almayate Bajo and Almayata Alto, Cajiz and Chilches, among others, as well as numerous tourist developments in the coastal zone and scattered farm communities in the interior. Thus, only half the population of the municipality is concentrated in the town of Vélez-Málaga.
This municipality’s terrain is so rugged that it seems to positively abhor level land, being an endless succession of ravines and hills. Due to their proximity to the sea, the hills do not rise to great altitudes. Their highest points such as La Rábita de Torrox and the Cocoja, which abound in low brush, are not more than 700 metres high. The Torrox stream, which the villagers also call Patalamara, La Plata or Argentino, crosses the municipality from north to south and its waters are used to the full for irrigation before they empty into the sea at Punta de Torrox. The municipality has nine kilometres of sandy beaches along which lie the population centres of Torrox Costa and El Morche.This municipality is an eminently agricultural landscape, but due to the extremely uneven terrain, there has been no alternative but to terrace the hills to make use of the land and make it cultivable. Thus, terraces are the most noticeable feature of an area where subtropical fruits have found a perfect home.A polished axe from the Neolithic period has been found at the hamlet of Los Casarones, some two kilometres north of the village, proving that there were already human settlements in this area at that time. It probably was also colonised by Punics or Phoenicians, considering the proximity of the Trayamar and Mezquitilla archaeological sites in 
The municipality of Vélez-Málaga, the largest and most populous in the La Axarquía region, lies mainly within the watershed of the River Vélez, which is formed by the Rivers Benamargosa and El Guaro and irrigates, a broad and rich lowland. This territory as a whole, however, with its terrain of medium elevation (the highest peak is Veas on the eastern slope, at 703 metres) exhibits the typical characteristics of the La Axarquía region. Due to its large area, one seventh of the entire La Axarquía region, and to the fact that it possesses the most fertile land in the region, the municipality of Vélez-Málaga includes several centres of population. They include Torre del Mar (the most tourist-oriented and highly developed), Benajarafe, Triana, Trapiche, Almayate Bajo and Almayata Alto, Cajiz and Chilches, among others, as well as numerous tourist developments in the coastal zone and scattered farm communities in the interior. Thus, only half the population of the municipality is concentrated in the town of Vélez-Málaga.