The history of Nerja is in big part the discovery of the Caves of Nerja. Due to the paintings found in the cave, they have found in it, examples of the first settlers that arrived in this town around the Paleolithic and Bronze eras. From those days until the tourism boom of today many episodes have occurred on this land.

There have been many discoverings belonging to the paleolithic, neolithic and bronze ages. But there are also many relative historic events of the Alqueria de Nachira, that mark the spot of the arab times, when Nerja still depended on Velez-Malaga, the capital of the province of Anarquia. After many years of being considered and arab town, the intense jasmine aroma and narrow streets as well as white homes still remain. Many battles and betrayals later came the end of the 16th century in which they built the hermitage of Our Lady of Anguish, the patron saint of this small villa that in 1655 reached a population of 400.

Years later, approxiamtely in 1662 they were ordered by the king to build a tower called "Torre del los Guardas", which today is called the Balcon de Europa or Europe's Balcony. The history of Europe's Balcony comes from the earthquake that flattened this area in the late 19th century and the visit of the King Alfonso the 12th who gave name to this tower.

Nerja kept growing and bettering it's access, making it's urban center more spacious. In 1959 the discovery of the Caves of Nerja changed it's history. After this moment, Nerja begins to recieve a lot of tourism, therefore they began to build tourist infrastructures to satisfy the demand of the growing tourism rates. Today it is one of the most touristy cities in Spain.