Historically the region has been occupied and settled by many cultures dating back to the Bronze Age, including the ancient Phoenicians and Romans, and has also been considerably influenced by the Moorish settlement of the southern Iberian peninsula. Two Almenara towers on the coastline date back to the 15th century, originally built to guard the coast and its population from the frequent incursions of Barbary pirates in the days following the reconquista of the region by Henry IV of Castile.
In contemporary times, along with the rest of the Costa del Sol area it has become an important tourist destination. The municipality has been subject to an unprecedented urban expansion in recent years with many new buildings and homes built, sometimes causing environmental degradation.
The name is derived from the Arabic "Eben al-Medina", or "Son of the Settlement".
Benalmadena has both a traditional Spanish village and a modern, coastal, tourist area. Many authors give theories about the origin of the name of the town, but none has been proven as true. The first documents which contain references to Benalmádena from the fifteenth century in the context of the struggle to win back the Crown of Castilla against the Nazari Kingdom of Granada. The assumption on which most historians agree is the Arabic toponym of Ibn al-ma’ din “son of the mines” for the iron and ochre bed found in the area. Another theory, also related to the Arabic word Bina al-ma’din, whose translation would be “the construction or building of the mine There are others theories like the translation to the Arabian of “people between springs” Bena-A La Ena. On other hand, is believed that the possible name of Bina al-Madina could be “the state of the al-Madina’s family”. According to the historical data, they were a rich family at the Muslim Málaga and they could own the area. Finally, it has been suggested that the name of the municipality referred to a lineage of
