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Phoenician, Roman, and Arab civilizations contributed to the town’s development.

In the foothills of the mountains to the south of the town is Sohail Castle, which contains remains of an early Phoenician settlement, later occupied by the Romans and known in antiquity as Suel. According to Pomponius Mela, Suel was among the coastal towns of the Roman Empire, and Pliny also mentioned it as an oppidum or fortified village. Ptolemy, a historian from the second century, identified it as belonging to the Bastulo-Penoes, or Phoenicians.

An inscription on the pedestal of a statue near the castle mentions Suel as a Roman “municipium.” In that area, a funeral urn is engraved with the name “Suelitana.” In 1961, Roman baths and remains of a Roman villa were found in Fuengirola, one of which is exhibited in the town museum as the “Venus of Fuengirola.” The architectural components from Los Boliches have been mounted to form a temple entrance and are on the promenade at Los Boliches. They were probably brought from the Mijas quarry during the Roman era.

During the middle of the 10th century, Abd-ar-Rahman III built the castle. At the beginning of the Middle Ages, it was not mentioned that Suel was a city. It changed from Suel to Suhayl during the Moorish era, when the castle and surrounding area became known as Suhayl. In addition to farmland and small villages, Suhayl became a relatively large settlement. The surrounding area has been used as pasture for the camels of the Moorish rulers. From 1130 to 1203, Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah bin Ahmed lived in Suhayl and became one of the seven saints of Marrakesh, where he was buried. He was also known as Al-Allama Abdul Qasim Al-Suhayli (“the man from Suhayl”).

During the early Middle Ages, the town’s inhabitants fled to Mijas when it was set on fire. Historiographer Alonso de Palencia writes that Suhayl became a mound of ruins after being transformed into Font-Jirola after a spring arose.

Following the Reconquista (reconquest) in 1485, when only the fortress remained, the settlement and the rest of the Kingdom of Granada fell into Christian hands. In 1511, the site was registered as uninhabited except for the fortress and a watchtower after an attempt to repopulate it with 30 people failed. Reallocation of land originally planned for Fuengirola to Mijas took place.

Once Turkish and Moroccan pirates disappeared from the area in the 17th century, a new urban settlement emerged; at the beginning of the 18th century, an inn opened near the beach to accommodate travelers, muleteers, and seafarers. In the nearby area, huts were built, forming a small village.