Welcome to the Costa del Sol! We spent 4 nights in Málaga and knew the moment we arrived this was going to be one of our favorite places. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, here is where you will always find a nice coastal breeze, even in the middle of summer. And while this place is bursting at the seams with history, you will also find a bustling cosmopolitan city.
Málaga, port city, capital of Málaga province, in the Andalusia community of southern Spain, lies along a wide bay of the Mediterranean Sea. And while it is famous for sunshine and beaches, Málaga is also known for its fresh seafood, amazing architecture and cliff side white villages.
Some interesting facts & info about Málaga:
- Pablo Picasso was born in Málaga in 1881. While he didn’t spend he entire life here, his story began in Málaga.
- Antonio Banderas calls the city his home. Not only did he grow up here, he still resides in the city and is very involved in the community. He owns several restaurants and more recently has opened a theater in the heart of Málaga’s SOHO neighborhood.
- As the capital of the Costa del Sol, of course, Málaga is known for sunlight. The sun is hot and strong in this coastal Mediterranean city. With over 300 days of sunshine and during the summer months those sunny days seem to last forever with the sun not setting until well after 9pm
- Málaga is one of two provinces in Andalusia famous for pueblos blancos, or white villages. These picturesque towns often cluster on hillsides and are beautiful to see.
- Málaga is famous for its seafood and perhaps the most iconic fish dish being espeto. Espeto is a sardine dish which is commonly eaten skewered and grilled over an open flame on the beach.
- The beaches of the Costa del Sol is where families spend their spare time relaxing and cooling off. And it is not unusual or uncommon that women on the beach are topless. Spain is quite tolerant when it comes to nudity however the law is simple, if it causes offense, it is a crime. That means topless ladies sunbathing on beaches is acceptable, appearing fully nude in areas other than nudist beaches is not.
- Smoking, while frowned upon now in most areas in the US, is still very common in Spain. There are laws in place where you can’t smoke, like on the beach, but because most of the dining is outdoors or in open area covered patios, smoking is typically allowed. We felt like we had stepped back in time as we were a little surprised at how many people we passed on the street were smoking, since you just don’t see that in the US these days.
- This town is one that enjoys their siesta! Many local restaurants will close after lunch (around 3) and will reopen for dinner sometime between 7 and 8.
Where we stayed
Getting to our hotel was a little bit of an adventure in itself. We had a short 2 1/2 hour drive from Seville to Málaga and the drive was beautiful with tons of olive groves and beautiful mountain views along the way. We realized, when we arrived, that our hotel was actually in the city’s pedestrian district. If you have ever been to one of these cities that have a pedestrian district you know that while there are cars occasionally, for the most part people just walk down the streets and there are few road signs, stop lights, etc. When you do see a car it is either a taxi or delivery person barreling through those unmarked streets or you will see a car that creeping slowly through the crowds as if they are doing something mischievous. Well, if you are wondering, we were definitely the latter. It was super uncomfortable and we felt like we were definitely doing something wrong but we made it to our hotel with out hitting a pedestrian and didn’t even get yelled at, so we felt we were off to a good start!
We stayed at Hotel Molina Lario, which is a 4 star hotel perfectly positioned in the center of Málaga just across from the Cathedral and just a short distance from the port, the Picasso Museum and the city’s pedestrian district.
How we spent 4 days in Málaga
Private Guided Walking Tour of Málaga – We enjoyed a walking tour on the afternoon we arrived; which is always a great idea. That allowed us to already have the lay of the land, so to speak, and it is also a great way to get suggestions from your guide on how to spend the rest of our time here in the city. Our first stop on the tour was having a drink at the oldest wine bar in Málaga then following by walking through the streets learning about the history then with the highlight being a walk through the Alcazaba of Málaga.
The Alcazaba of Málaga, which started being built in the 10 or 11th century during the Hummudid dynasty and continued for nearly 500 years, is an icon for the city of Málaga. Military operations ceased sometime in the 18th century and the fortress became the slum area of the city with no running water or electricity with visibly crumbling walls. Following threats of complete demolition, the fate of the Alcazaba changed radically when, on June 3, 1931, it was declared a Historical-Artistic Monument, belonging to the National Treasury. What happened next was the inhabitants of that city slum neighborhood were relocated to another area and the city and local government began restoring the deteriorating Alcazaba. What is amazing about this part of the story is that during the restoration they uncovered historic Roman villages and artifacts, with one of the most impressive being that of a Roman theater at the foot of the citadel. All of this has been preserved and partially restored and was a highlight of our trip!
Picasso Museum – The second day we spent the morning exploring some areas suggested by our guide and the first on the list was the Picasso museum. Even if you are not a huge Picasso fan you still might enjoy this museum. This is a huge collection of his works but also if you walk through the entire museum and listen to the audio commentary as you do you learn a lot about Picasso’s life and the history of his work. I really had a much better understanding of him as his work after visiting this museum.
Small Group Wine and Tapas Walking Tour – We also had a wine and tapas walking tour in the afternoon on our 2nd day in Málaga. This was a group tour and when we arrived we learned that it was a full tour so there would be 12 of us. At first I was a little discouraged but honestly, we could not have asked for a better group of people to spend the afternoon (and evening) with. Our guide was great and the places we stoped at were superb. We started the tour at 6:30 and when the tour was over our entire group headed up to a rooftop bar, as suggested by our guide, and we didn’t return home until after midnight. We met some really nice people from all over the world that evening!
The Málaga Museum – The third day we checked out the Málaga museum. We started on the top floor and worked our way down beginning with the history of Málaga. Wow, was that an eye opener. There are artifacts that are from the Roman era and others as far back as the Phoenician times.The first floor of the museum is full of fine art. Some really beautiful works of art to be honest so we took out time here to really read about each artist and enjoy their work.
The last place we visited was probably the most fun and our favorite restaurant overall and that was El Caleño. We took a taxi but it was just about a 2 mile drive up the coast a little to a neighborhood called Pedregalejo. This is where we sat along the boardwalk and got to try and espetos for the first time (a traditional sardine dish). We also had their paella and everything we had there was amazing. But the location and view was the best part!
Our least favorite part of our visit – One afternoon we walked over to the La Farola- lighthouse at entrance of Málaga harbour. This is one of Spain’s oldest lighthouses and stands 38 Meters above sea level. This is the area where the cruise ships pull in and just as to be expected, it was a very touristy strip of shops and restaurants and not much else. The one clue we got on touristy places is if they are open all day long then it is not typically a “local” stop and is designed with the tourist in mind as their primary target. Luckily the few days we were in Málaga there were no cruise ships scheduled, not that there is anything wrong with cruise ships, but cities like these can be swarmed when a big ship arrives.
Málaga’s Cathedral is one of those must see places to visit when on a tour through the city. While construction began in the 1500’s and lasted over 2 centuries, the Cathedral remains unfinished, even to this day. The most visual sign of this being the lack of the South Tower. We didn’t actually go inside this cathedral as we spent our time visiting other parts of the city but the outside is magnificent and our hotel room actually overlooked the finished tower.
Out Top Highlights of Malaga
Antigua Casa DeGuardia – the oldest wine bar in the city
Casa Mira – Best local Ice cream
Casa Aranda – Best churros in the city!
The Atarazanas Market is the largest food market in Málaga and inside you can find a section of fresh seafood as well as local fresh fruits and vegetables and is a landmark of Málaga.
Fried almonds – I had never even heard of these but they are awesome and can be found from street vendors on just about every street corner.
Favorite Local Dishes –
- My favorite was Flamiquin – this was a pork an cheese fried roll
- Pete’s favorite was Espetos: these are smoked sardines over a fire
- Pete’s second favorite would be the Iberian Ham – you find it everywhere in Spain and can pick up a bocadillo on just about every street corner (bocadillo is a traditional Spanish sandwich made with sliced ham and and cheese on a rustic baguette style roll)
Iberian Ham – While we are on the subject we will talk a little about Spanish Iberian ham. Just about every local restaurant will have legs handing inside the restaurant and what we learned was the best ham would be sporting a black hoof. This is how they differentiate the best of the best. Those with black hooves have to meet certain criteria and is regulated by the government. One thing in particular is that these pigs have to be acorn fed, among other things to classify. To learn more about this amazing ham click the link bleow:
The sweet, nutty flavour of the acorns digs deep into the meat, giving a delicate and unique flavour. The ham you get from these pigs is called jamón ibérico de bellota (acorn-fed Iberian ham).
https://everydayfoodblog.com/spain/iberian-ham/
Sweet red wine – Málaga is known for their sweet red wine. We tried different varieties during our visit and while we are not typically sweet red wine drinkers it really grew on us. The way this is typically made in Spain is the grapes are pulled and left to ripen for about a week before they use it to make the wine. Which means there is natural sugar from the fermentation to sweeten the wine. The other type of sweet red wine in Spain is their vermouth. The two most traditional grapes in Málaga province, Muscat and Pedro Ximénez, are perfect for vermouth, because it needs a sweet base upon which to pair with bitter flavors and aromas of the roots, herbs and spices added to produce the spanish vermouth. This was one of our favorites! (But do not get this confused with dry vermouth that you would use to make martinis!)
SOHO – this is the newest part of Málaga along the bay. This is the arts and cultural area and is where you will find beautiful street art as you stroll along the streets of this neighborhood and well as Antonio Banderas renovated musical arts school and theater.
The Modern Nomads 
Leave a comment