---
title: "La Azucarera, the old sugar factory of Torre del Mar"
description: "The Nuestra Señora del Carmen sugar factory, with roots in the late eighteenth century. Three brick chimneys and the reason the town grew here."
url: https://torredelmar.net/en/the-sugar-factory/
author: Sergio Lepone (torredelmar.net)
language: en
---

Guides

# The sugar factory

The chimneys you can see from most of Torre del Mar belong to **La Azucarera**, the old _Nuestra Señora del Carmen_ sugar factory, whose origins go back to the **late eighteenth century**. Three brick chimneys and several buildings survive from its industrial period, and it is considered the main reference of sugar heritage in the province of Málaga.

## Why a sugar factory here

This coast grew sugar cane, and the mills that processed it are what turned a fishing settlement into a working town. The factory is not a decorative ruin, it is the reason the streets run where they run and the reason the town has the size it has.

## What you can see

The chimneys are the landmark and they are visible from the avenue and from much of the centre. The site is industrial heritage rather than a museum with opening hours, so treat it as something you walk past and look at rather than something you tour.

## Where it fits in a visit

It is a short walk inland from the seafront, which makes it the natural afternoon half of a day that started on the beach. Seeing it changes how the rest of the town reads: once you know the factory was here, the layout stops looking accidental.

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