Small, town with a population of 600 inhabitants is set deep in “Los Montes de Málaga” and is surrounded in its near entirety by the capital. Its town centre is tight and white and crowns a small hill, which comes down from “El Cerro de las Herejías”.
According to Mateo Gallego, the etymology of Totalán is of Arabic origin and it means “tart”. The first documented references date from the time of the Iberians. Already from Arabic origin, The Tower of Salazar is found in the hill that overlooks and dominates the sea and its mission was that of defending the town from the coast. The said tower would be joined in 1492 by “La Torre Totalán”. Towards the end of the Nineteenth Century, the town was afflicted by the phylloxera which destroyed most of its vines. Since then, the emigration has been an inevitable fact and its population has been gradually diminishing. Along with the above- mentioned towers, the oldest and most important building is the Parish Church of Santa Ana, dating from 1505. Furthermore, a few kilometres from the town centre, is situated the funeral structure of “El Cerro de la Corona”, which dates from between 4.000 to 3.000 B.C. In its gastronomy, we can point out “la chanfaina” and “el gazpacho veraniego”, apart from the excellent local wines.