ABSTRACT. – The Alborán Sea hosts the largest population of common dolphin in the Mediterranean Sea. This species of cetacean has the highest number of recorded strandings on the Andalusian coast. We analyzed the spatial and temporal patterns of 633 short-beaked common dolphins stranded on this coast during the period 1996-2009. The spatial distribution of the strandings differed between the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of the Andalusian littoral. Mean body size was 163.3 ± 35.6 cm, although body size was not homogeneously distributed along the coast. These cetaceans tended to be larger on the Atlantic coast than on the rest of the Andalusian coast. Although others factors must be taken into account, the stranding patterns may be explained by the density of short-beaked common dolphins in inshore waters. The number of strandings suggests intense use by this species of the continental shelf along the Andalusian coast, with the possibility of conflict between dolphins and human activities in the Alborán Sea.