Málaga, with about 600,000 inhabitants, is Andalusia's second city and capital of the Costa del Sol. For many years it was mainly the airport for the beaches of Torremolinos and Marbella; today it is a lively, cosmopolitan city with a restored old town, a port opened up to residents and an extraordinary range of museums. The mild climate, with winter days of 17-18°C, attracts visitors and new residents all year.
History
Founded by the Phoenicians as Malaka around the eighth century BC, it was Roman and then, for almost eight centuries, Moorish: the Nasrid kings of Granada built the Alcazaba and Gibralfaro castle. The Catholic Monarchs took it in 1487 after a long siege. In the nineteenth century it was one of Spain's most industrialised cities. Pablo Picasso was born here in 1881.
What to see
- The Alcazaba, the eleventh-century Moorish fortress-palace with courtyards, fountains and gardens, and above it Gibralfaro castle, with walls and the best views over the city and port.
- The Roman theatre at the foot of the Alcazaba, discovered in 1951.
- The Renaissance and Baroque cathedral, nicknamed La Manquita, "the one-armed lady", because one of its two towers was never finished.
- The Museo Picasso Málaga, in the Buenavista palace, and the Picasso Birthplace on Plaza de la Merced.
- The Centre Pompidou Málaga, in the coloured cube at the port, the Carmen Thyssen Museum, with nineteenth-century Spanish painting, and the Russian Museum Collection.
- Elegant pedestrian calle Larios and the Atarazanas market, with its stained-glass window and Moorish gateway.
- The port, with Muelle Uno, the Palmeral de las Sorpresas and the walk to the lighthouse, and La Malagueta beach.
- The Soho district, full of street art, and La Concepción botanical garden.
Food
Málaga is the city of pescaíto frito, fried anchovies (boquerones), espetos, sardines skewered on canes and grilled over embers in sand-filled boats on the beaches of Pedregalejo and El Palo, ajoblanco, a cold almond soup, and sweet Málaga wine. Bars have their own coffee vocabulary: solo, largo, semi largo, mitad, entrecorto, corto, sombra and nube, depending on the amount of milk.
Festivals
Málaga's Holy Week is among the most spectacular, with huge thrones carried by hundreds of men (see Holy Week); in August comes the Feria (see Málaga festivals); at Christmas the lights of calle Larios are famous.
Practical information and nearby
The airport, one of Spain's busiest, is linked to the centre by Cercanías train and bus; María Zambrano station has high-speed trains to Madrid, in under three hours, and to Córdoba and Seville. From the city it is easy to reach the Costa del Sol with Torremolinos and Marbella, Nerja and its caves, the Caminito del Rey, the walkway in the Gaitanejo gorge, Antequera with its dolmens, Ronda and Granada.