Any ideas?? Or explanations.

Explanation, Malaga is the most expensive in Andalucia for taxis and believe it or not, the taxi fares have been frozen for the last two years by the taxi union, and they are still cheaper than places like Madrid.
They pay quite a substantial amount to use Malaga Airport, so there are two rates, the Airport rate and the urban rate, and all the cars entering the airport are monitored with an automatic system that reads the plates. Then there's the different rates between 6 am -10pm and 10pm- 6am, plus bank holidays, fiestas and week-end rates, plus different rates from Malaga Centro, Plaza Mayor, Malaga Port. etc.

Taxis are only licensed to carry up to 4 passengers, so by having a family of five, the vehicle will have to change to something like a people carrier, this bumps up the price.

Going East of Malaga they have no competition from the railway like the resorts on the West, which have an excellent rail service every 30 minutes from Malaga city, stopping at the airport and onto Fuengirola.
No consolation to you and I don't want to appear unsympathetic or an hypocrite because I take advantage of the urban train, but I think the resorts on the East of Malaga have retained their Spanish charm by being less accessible to the masses. The coast tends to favour cliffs and coves, so there is no scope for miles upon miles of promenades to be built"¦.maybe a pricey taxi is a small price to pay.?

I'm not trying to justify it, I can remember when the taxi fare from the airport to La Carihuela was €10, then €12, then €15, €18 and now it's anything from €20 to €25, and this may explain why the train is always well used. IMO: what is needed for the East of Malaga is a subsidised shuttle bus direct from the Airport, but is there the demand.? Is this why the prices of the shuttle buses already operating are expensive.?

I don't know how much they have to pay for using Malaga Airport, I think the Airport supplement is something like 5 euros even before the car moves.
I'm not sure who sets the rates/tariffs, whether it's Malaga Ayuntamiento or the taxi union, or an agreement between both.?
I don't know the cost of vehicle insurance in Spain or the price of the license to legally operate"¦.these could be a lot higher than the UK and may (in their opinion) justify the prices.

It's quite obvious though that if you are fortunate to have one of the major Airports in Spain on your doorstep and the opportunity for a guaranteed fare for the taxi drivers, the Ayuntamiento (council) are going to find ways to rake in the euros and boost the coffers.
My taxi driver moaned at paying a few quid to come into East Midlands Airport to drop/pick us up, and when they introduced these charges, his prices went up, and you ought to hear him rant about it.!

Try these...
http://www.taximinibusnerja.com/en.html
http://www.transferpeople.com/transferpeople_prices.html

I found this shuttle bus, but it may have certain hours of operating, you'd have to contact them for confirmation....still pricey for 5 people, in fact far too pricey for 5 people and something like 'transfer people' may work out cheaper....and a lot cheaper than the ridiculous price of £385.00 ...but if you are arriving late in Malaga, you will pay more, so is there any chance of getting a weekday, daytime flight.?
http://www.grupoveranoazul.com/shuttle_en.php

Sanji
Edit to change the supplement price...don't know where that 1 came from to make it 15 instead of 5.

I don't know if you drive and if so you would be prepared to do so in Spain?

When we went to Nerja two summers back we hired a car for the week. It was a no brainer for us, we found the roads to be good and navigation realtively easy. Although the new road does run out at some point (at Almunecar maybe ?). It did not appear to go right through to Salobrena. Only know this as we went to Salobrena for a day whilst staying in Nerja area. I appreciate this doesn't help much if you aren't drivers.

My Mum used to have a place in Salobrena 35 years ago before it was a resort, we either did the journey by public transport (Ekk), think we might have had to change at Motril ? Or by cab if she felt flush, but that was a lifetime ago costs wise.

We have booked a minibus for 6 people from Malaga to nerja for 160 euros, which is 20 euros cheaper than last year. Its with malagaairporttransfers.com

Here you go,
http://www.malagaairporttransfers.com/

Obviously wasn't that important

Sanji, I think that you had a very similar conversation about the same issue with the same poster almost exactly 12 months ago!

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=147805&p=1485806#p1485806

SM

Cheers SM
I thought it rang a bell, but my memory fails me at times.

Sanji