Laurence Dollimore
IT’S officially the least populated village in Malaga province with just 192 residents living there, according to the 2023 census.
But Salares (pictured above), a picturesque white-washed pueblo in Axarquia, is filled with expats, most of them British.
To be exact, there are 20 Brits living there, alongside four Belgians, a Dane, two Moroccans and a Romanian.
It means expats make up more than 10% of the population.
The town is situated in a natural park in the Sierras de Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama.
It is some 68km inland from Malaga city and will take you around two hours to drive there via mountain roads.
And population numbers are growing, with six new residents moving in over the past year.
The town is a typical Andalucian mountain village, filled with narrow winding streets and remnants of the former Arab kingdoms that ruled there.
Salares was also a Roman settlement and was previously inhabited by the Phoenicians, Greeks and even the Carthaginians.
Its bridge over the Salares River at the exit of the town dates back to the Roman era and is still in perfect condition and in use to this day.
Its minaret tower church in the centre of town is also an official historic monument, having been built by ruling Arabs during the medieval Mudejar period.
