Manilva's strategic position, close to the entrance to the Mediterranean, has resulted in a long history of settlement in the area going back to the Stone Age.

In recent years traces of these early settlers have been found in caves in the Sierra Utrera, a ridge of limestone which runs behind the town.

It was during the Roman period, though, that the area first enjoyed prominence, as it was the site of a thriving fish processing industry, which exported products, including the highly prized Garum paste (a kind of “Gentleman’s Relish”) which was in much demand back in Rome.

Remains of the factory, a villa and bathhouse can be found today in Castillo de la Duquesa, one of Manilva's coastal villages.

Starting off with the Three Kings cavalcade on 5 January, then the raucous fun of Carnival around the beginning of Lent; the solemn devotion of the Semana Santa processions during Easter; the Manilva International Festival, around the end of May, during which the municipality's international community takes the opportunity to show off its varying culture, cuisine and traditions; Saint John's Eve during the Summer solstice with its pagan tradition of Bonfires of Saint John, fireworks and partying till dawn; the fishermen's celebration of their patron, the Virgen del Carmen in mid-July, and then rounding off the summer with the Vendimia, in the first weekend of September, a festival celebrating Manilva's grape harvest.