Town to stay in as a homebase, between Denia/Calp and Malaga

We spent five nights in Denia in 2024 and I think it would be a good option...it's bisected by a pedestrian street and we found many excellent places to eat. There is also a lively daily market with quite a few bar/restaurants inside.

We enjoyed staying at this hotel; they have a parking garage about a block away:

https://laposadadelmar.com/en/

Here is a thread about dining in Denia:

https://www.hungryonion.org/t/el-baret-de-miguel-denia/41379

A small city between those two locations that we enjoyed was Almería. I can’t say I’d want to stay there for 4-7 days, but it was nice.

You can't go wrong with Malaga itself but it's a city not a town.
Nerja is pretty but a lot of UK tourists. (I'm from the Uk myself)
We preferred Almunecar despite the high rise along the sea front. A nice historical centre and a mix of nationalities.
Salobrena is even quieter and more Spanish, not quite so smart but some great and inexpensive fish restaurants.
We didn't like Almeria - but opinions differ of course, a bit gritty for us compared to other places?
Cartagena has a very nice historical centre and a long water front but a fraction of the tourists of Malaga so might suit you.
On another trip we stayed in Denia and visited Altea, Javea and Calp from there and this is the post I wrote about those three:
https://slowtravelitalyspain.blogspot.com/2025/04/denia-calp-altea-or-javea.html

Thank you ekscrunchy, jaimieelsabio, and tinac for your suggestions. I should add a criteria of my request to not include cities. Perhaps a maximum of 25,000 to 35,000 population?