alvamo

First of all, I´m from Malaga and I like to travel a lot. Lately I´m in contact with many people who comes to Malaga Airport and goes around Andalucia.

I´m really shock ´cause many of them just rent the car and go to Granada, Córdoba, Sevilla, Ronda and come back to the airport without seeing anything of Malaga.

Many people thinks Malaga is just about beach, sun, beers, party and nothing else...

People tend to think that is packed of english people and they could go days without hearing a Spanish word being spoken, when is fact is less touristy than Granada, Cordoba and Sevilla and Malaga doesn´t have daytrippers...so if you visit it you´ll feel like you are visiting real andalucia..

Some people also think is more expensive than other parts of Spain, of course if you go to the main square you´ll pay much more than average but if you move a bit you can get a beer and a good tapa for 1,50 € and Malaga have also very nice restaurants.

Another people think there is a huge line of high rise hotels running all along the coast, when in Malaga you only have the Malagueta and yes there are some big buildings but not hotels only spanish people who lives there, the rest of the city coast has the port and small houses of the fisher in the Pedregalejo, El Palo east area of the capital.

Oher people says the Old Town has no character..and they compare it to the Old Town of other places in Andalucia like Sevilla or Granada, well maybe we don´t have the Santa Cruz or Albaizin but the Old Town of Malaga has very nice palaces from XVII-XVIII century,many narrow streets around the city and then the Roman Theathre and the Alcazaba which was built with some colums of the roman era. And the amazing views when you climb to the top of the Gibrafaro and enter in the Castle.

Then we have the market Atarazanas old boatyard dating back to the 14th century with the marble arch. and on the other side the stained glass window, the market itself is from 186-1879

And Malaga offers many many things as parks, museums, sports, culture...so I just wrote the post because I wonder why so many people skip Malaga and also would like to tell you that if you have any question in case you doubt to come then I would like to help you.

So do you agree with many people who skip Malaga? Did you come? What do you think of Malaga?
I´m always talking about Malaga the city and not the area around The Costa del Sol which I want to clarify is much different.

Thank you for reading and sorry for my english.

PalenQ

If you had not just registered on Fodor's to plug Malaga and had been a contributing member you would have found really good opinions and coverage of Malaga here - many many have said how nice it was.

I've visited Malaga a few time and yes it is a neat old town with an old part.

alvamo

I have just registered, yes when people visit it, they normally like it, but the problem comes when some people don´t come even if they arrive to the airport.

Christina

I don't think it necessarily has a "bad reputation" amongst Americans, for example (and maybe others), it's just seen as a destination site nor mentioned as much, that's all. Granada as the Alhambra, for example, and while Malaga has a few sites, it's nothing like that or Sevilla or Cordoba. And I've been there.

It's a good base in that area and has a nicely renovated old town and area along the seas, and has good air connections. But I was there for several days, and I'm sorry, it does not compare to Seville in terms of tourist interest nor character. I think it may be as good as Granada but people go there for the Alhambra, if it didn't have that, people wouldn't be going to Granada either that much, I bet.

There are tons of people there who aren't day trippers but aren't locals, also, so that argument doesn't wash. Don't know what you mean by only Spanish people live there. ONe reason it has good air connections is because of those who go there for the beach area, and lots of Brits, for example.

ribeirasacra

You should go on to TA and talk to Benny, he is always "pushing" Malaga as the place to visit.

progol

I completely agree with Christina about Malaga -- it's a perfectly pleasant place to spend a day, but nowhere near as interesting as Seville, Cordoba, or Granada, for that matter. This is not to "dis" it in any way -- I enjoyed it, especially as it was coming at the end of our trip, and it was a good place to chill out a bit. The waterfront is pleasant and lends itself to a nice relaxed atmosphere.

Yes, there are sights and museums worth viewing, so it's definitely worth a stop, but it's not a particularly exciting city to walk around in -- the older part of town doesn't have the character of, say, the older part of the other cities mentioned earlier.

Though I'd disagree with you, Christina, about Granada. I rather liked the city, and found that it interesting to walk around in and spend time beyond the Alhambra.

PalenQ

Malaga is nice but in no way compared to Granada (well if it weren't for the Alhambra it may) and especially Cordoba and Seville - to put Malaga in the class of those is just pure propaganda that don't pass the smell test.

Ozarksbill

Agree amigos. We did not use airport but spent a day on tour in Malaga. Lovely old town, waterfront promenade, tall palm trees, bougainvillea, twisting streets, impressive ancient Roman theater, Picasso's birthplace just up the hill I think.

danon

We stayed in Maga for three nights enjoyed the city very much.
( just before la Semana Santa )
Seville, Córdoba and Granada are more intersting but they are not on the sea.
Different feel .

bilboburgler

I regularly push Malaga as a great place to stay. I suspect Malaga may get confused with Marbella (home of Saudis who want avoid the sex police and European gangsters)

Thanks for elevating the Malaga situation

kimhe

Very much agree with Alvamo. Malaga is my favourite city in Andalucia after many years of much traveling in the region, much because of the laid-back, no fuss and genuine Andalucian atmosphere. A recent video from Telegraph: "Malaga: Spain's best kept secret": http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/de...pt-secret.html

"City of museums: Málaga bets on culture to draw tourists and talent": http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...-culture-spain
"The emerging fine food scene in Málaga and around": http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/may/24/malaga-andalucia-spain-food-restaurants-tapas"

Flamenco legend Enrique Morente's beautiful tribute to the city itself and Malaga-born Picasso, "Adiós Málaga": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6TqkaaEKaM

EYWandBTV

One reason that Malaga's historic center does not appear as interesting as some other cities is the heavy destruction it suffered in the Civil War. When the Second Republic was proclaimed in 1931, overthrowing the monarchy, leftist mobs in Malaga sacked and burned many buildings in the center. Crowds destroyed the statue of the Marques de Larios on the Calle Larios. The anarcho-syndicalist labor federations, CNT-FAI, controlled much of the city in the following years.

After the rebellion by much of the army, led by Franco (whose rebel government was termed "Nationalist" in contrast to the army elements loyal to the Republic), in mid-1936, leftist forces again burned many buildings and churches in the center. Hitler's and Mussolini's air forces bombed the center. After every air attack, the leftist forces executed prisoners in retaliation.

Nationalist forces quickly conquered Cordoba, cutting off Malaga from the Republic central areas of Spain.

In February 1937, Nationalist forces under General Queipo de Llano occupied the city. Mass reprisals began; 100,000 flee toward Almeria and were strafed by Nationalists as they fled. Here's a video of the battle for Malaga, ending in the celebration by Nationalists in front of the cathedral. Look at the image of the flamenco dancer celebrating in the square with the swastika banners flying behind her:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcEXUMTEEXI

Thousands of people were executed by both sides and buried in mass graves in the San Rafael cemetery. A pyramidal mausoleum was constructed in the cemetery a few years ago. Today the Universidad de Malaga, working with the Asociacion contra el Silencio y el Olvido, the unearthing the graves and doing DNA testing to identify the victims.

So the reason the many areas of the centro look new, especially the Calle Larios, is the destruction suffered by the centro from 1931 to 1937. Malaga suffered much, much more than Cordoba, Granada, or Seville.

danon

EY.
Thanks for a bit of history ..
Many visitors have no idea how vicious the War was and how long its
consequences continued to permiate Spanish life ,politics and culture.

kimhe

EYWandBTV,

Great history lesson about the development of Malaga since the Second republic. But the around 4500 persons buried in mass graves in the San Rafael cemetery (more than 2800 have been identified), also women and children, were all excecuted by the nationalists and eventually the Franco regime long into the 1950's. http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news...f_Franco.shtml

This is the story all over Spain, mass graves with victims of the Franco regime have been dug up all over the country since 2001. More than 600 mass graves in Andalucia alone. And the thing is that "everyone" has known about these graves for a very long time, but people kept it within four walls after the transition to democracy as a part of the so called "pact of silence" or "pact of forgetting" during the transition to democracy. Until 2001.
http://www.surinenglish.com/20110107...101071754.html
http://www.theguardian.com/commentis.../comment.spain

See also Guardian's Madrid correspondent Giles Tremlett's "Ghost of Spain" from 2006: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/bo...wildman.t.html

The opening of mass graves, with at least 50 000 victims of the Franco regime all over the country, led to the very controversial "Historical Memory Law" in 2007: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...ra-394552.html

EYWandBTV

Kimhe, thanks as always for your perceptive contribution. Yes, think about the people walking the streets of these cities today...their grandparents were caught up in these terrible episodes of the Civil War. I think reading about the war and its impact on these cities of Andalucia permits us to experience the historic centers in a different way, I hesitate to say a "better" way, but perhaps a deeper way.

alvamo

You are right about Malaga history but more to come.

Malaga was transformed into a military stronghold by Muslim leader Yusuf I and his successors in the 14th century. The city’s defences were built to protect its key port against Christians from Aragon and Castile during the Reconquista. Designed to guard a kingdom against annihilation, the city boasts not one, but two fortifications: Castillo de Gibralfaro – and the Alcazaba of Malaga. Its unprecedented military passageway, vast underground chamber system and brilliant watchtower network are testament to its role as the eye of an empire.

The siege: The castle was attacked by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1487 as part of a massive offensive against the city. Commanded by the King’s elite soldier, the Marques of Cadiz, and defended by Hamet el Zegri, a Muslim warrior fuelled by the desire for revenge, the stronghold was hammered by powerful “lombard” cannons – a weapon that would change the nature of warfare forever. The city and its citizens were also targeted, and for months, the battle raged on. This sustained onslaught would prove to be the bloodiest siege of this centuries-old conflict. And its outcome would change the future of Europe.

Malaga’s Alcazaba and Gibralfaro Castle were built out of brick, stone … and ruins. The Muslims used whatever they could find – including materials from an old Roman amphitheatre that sits just metres away from the fortifications. The most obvious evidence of this are marble columns that support archways in the Alcazaba.

As the Christian forces closed in on the city of Malaga, the Muslims demolished residential structures located near Gibralfaro Castle in an attempt to force the enemy to attack in the open and ensure the castle garrison had a clear line of fire.

Malaga’s people are said to have suffered great hunger during the siege. They were reportedly forced to eat horses, donkeys, dogs, skins, and tree leaves. When it came to provisions Hamet el Zegri – the city’s defender – put fighting men first. As the battle dragged on, he ordered that all available grain be gathered and fed only to his soldiers.

At the time that Malaga was besieged, the city was completely fortified. The city walls, combined with the Alcazaba and Gibralfaro Castle, boasted a total of approximately 200 defensive towers.


So you can read the importance of Malaga in history and you can imagine how the war was and how difficult the cristians conquered the city in 1487.

alvamo

Favourites pictures from the Alcazaba (take a look to the romans columns)

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...0158842&type=3

kimhe

EYWandBTV
<reading about the war and its impact on these cities of Andalucia permits us to experience the historic centers in a different way, I hesitate to say a "better" way, but perhaps a deeper way.> Agree, a good way to put it.

alvamo
Thanks for a to the point short version of the Malaga reconquista history and excellent pictures!

alvamo

Christina I do not want to compare to Seville in terms of tourist interest nor character. Malaga has got a personality itself.

What i mean by only Spanish people live there is the area around la Malagueta, is not full of hotels, in fact there is only one around the bullring, and yes has I said many people who go to Malaga, then doesn´t visit the city because they think is not worth it.

progol if you didn´t find Malaga nowhere near as interesting as Seville, Cordoba, or Granada, I don´t know what you did...and them you said it's not a particularly exciting city to walk around in. Well of course I respect but I think you didn´t explore Malaga that much.


PalenQ I don´t want to put Malaga in the class of Cordoba or Granada, I just said is quite nice to visit, not pure propaganda because Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla, Córdoba, Sevilla and Granada are the cities most visit by foreigners.

Ozarksbill and danon I agree with you Malaga has a lovely old town, waterfront promenade, tall palm trees, bougainvillea, twisting streets, impressive ancient Roman theater and Picasso's birthplace in Plaza de La Merced
and of course you can find Seville, Córdoba or Granada more interesting as a tourist but is a different feel.

bilboburgler I think some people mi Malaga and the Costa del Sol and the holidays resort, they don´t think Malaga has a lot of history and many museums and places to visit.

kimhe I´m glad you choose Malaga as your favourite city in Andalucia after many years of much traveling in the region, yes in Sevilla might be the duende, but also the Useless, expensive, an aesthetical nonsense for example in the Metrosol Parasol, and who pays?? Yes, the rest of the people from Andalucia...


I´m really surprised when people are happy paying 40€ for a tapas tour in Seville. and they say it was great..of course, if you pay 40 euros for tapas, them must taste it like heaven...lol

I love Granada (despite the malafollá) I love Córdoba (despite the quiet is could be sometimes) and I love Sevilla (despite the posh attitude the sevillanos have sometimes) but I also love Malaga.

PalenQ

Malaga rightly or wrongly has or at least had a reputation for pickpockets and street crime - is there any validity to that - not saying it approaches Madrid and Barcelona the two very worst cities for that in Europe it seems but like any large city be on your guard.