27 Jun Málaga – the cultural capital of Andalusia
Málaga is the capital of the province of Málaga and a municipality in the autonomous region of Andalusia. The population was 569,130 people in 2015, making Málaga the second largest city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth largest in all of Spain.
In the municipality of Málaga, which is 7,308 square kilometers in size, a total of 1,641,098 people live. Málaga is Europe’s southernmost major city, with approximately 100 kilometers to Gibraltar and 130 kilometers to the coast of Africa. It is a historically and culturally rich provincial capital, which has long lived in the shadow of the iconic Andalusian cities of Granada, Córdoba and Seville.
In recent years, the city has rapidly emerged as the province’s city of culture and has sometimes even been compared to Madrid as a city of art. The Guadalmedina River divides the city in two. The new Málaga is on the right while the historic center of the city – the old town – is on the left.
All visitors to the Costa del Sol land at Málaga airport, but too many miss out on visiting its “wine-sprinkled redder”, as Taube wrote. The tourist who steps into the exciting little quarter with pedestrian streets – behind the large department store El Corte Inglés – rarely regrets it. Here you can observe how the Spanish live their everyday life without being too damaged by foreign tourism. Málaga has a lot to offer for everyone. The tastefully restored and vibrant historic center, where within one block there is a row of mighty buildings, is a joy to visit.
Alcazaba Castle
The Arab castle Alcazaba from the 14th century is one of the largest Arab fortresses in Andalusia and once had more than 100 towers and a number of mosques. The Moors built the Alcazaba on top of the ruins of an ancient Roman city on Mount Gibralfaro. Several Muslim sultans and subsequent rulers had the palace as their residence. This building is today the site of the Archaeological Museum, which contains valuable legacies from the Phoenician and Roman times, such as the newly restored Roman theater from the time of Emperor Augustus.
Málaga Cathedral
La Manquita from the 16th century, in Swedish also called “the one-armed lady”, is a deliciously decorated Baroque and Renaissance building, which has charmed everyone for over 200 years. The reason for the name is that the cathedral was originally supposed to have two towers but it ended up being only one. The tower was built in 1870 and has an impressive height of 84 meters. When the second tower was to be built, there was no money left and the cathedral ended up with only its one magnificent tower.
Gibralfaro Castle
This is perhaps Málaga’s most famous attraction. Proof of this is that the castle is depicted on the city and province’s flag and seal. The castle is from the 9th century with a number of extensions from the 14th century. It is located just above the Alcazaba. The name Gibralfaro is composed of the Arabic yabal (hill) and the Greek faruh (lighthouse). From that it can be concluded that the mountain was used only as a lookout point before a castle and a mosque were built on the site in 929. From Gibralfaro you have a spectacular view of Málaga city and Lake Alborá all the way to Morocco on the African coast.
Málaga's ancient history
Malaga’s history spans around 2,700 years and is one of the oldest cities in the world. The Phoenicians from Tire founded the city around 770 BC and gave it the Latin name Malaka. From the 8th century, during the Arab rule in Spain, Málaga became an important trading center. During this time, the city’s Arabic name was Mālaqah. From 1025 it was the capital of the autonomous Taifa Málaga until the conquest of the Emirate of Granada in 1239. Málaga is one of the Spanish cities where Muslim rule lasted the longest. While most other parts of the country had already been won back, the Moors still remained in occupied Málaga. The Muslim inhabitants resisted attacks and artillery bombardment before hunger finally forced them to surrender. Málaga was recaptured by the Christian forces on August 18, 1487.
Málaga as a tourist city
The city of Málaga ended the year 2016 with its best ever result for tourism. In 2016, more than 1.1 million tourists chose to vacation and stay in hotels in the city. This is an increase of 6.5 percent from 2015 and it is hoped that there will be even higher figures this year. The mayor of Málaga, Francisco de la Torre, speculated at the beginning of the year about an increase of over 5 percent, which would mean reaching over 1.3 million tourists in 2017. Málaga’s airport is located eight kilometers west of the city center and is the fourth busiest in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona and Mallorca. In 2016, 14.4 million passengers passed through the gates. From Málaga International Airport, you can travel to over 60 countries in the world. If you want to visit the capital Madrid without flying, there is an excellent train connection between the cities. The María Zambrano train station connects the city to Atocha in Madrid with the Talgo 200 train and the AVE high-speed train. The latter was inaugurated on 23 December 2007 and reduces the journey time to Madrid to two and a half hours.
The new city of culture
Over the past ten years, Málaga has invested almost one billion kroner in new museums and general cultural upgrading. In addition to the most famous, Museo Picasso, three famous art museums have opened branches in Málaga. The first is the Museo Carmen Thyssen which is a branch of the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid. The second is the Center Pompidou in Paris, which opened its branch in the port area of Muelle Uno. The third is finally the Museo Ruso, which is a branch of the State Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg. It is their first branch abroad and the city of Málaga has now signed a ten-year agreement with the famous Russian art gallery. The Russian Museum is located in the old Tabacalera tobacco factory. Furthermore, there are several other interesting new museums in the city, such as the modern art museum Málaga Centro de Arte Contemporáneo (CAC), which opened in 2003, and the newly built cultural center La Térmica of 13,000 square meters. El Museo de Las Bellas Artes in El Palacio de La Aduana has reopened after several years of extensive renovations and is now called El Museo de Málaga. It is a merger of the former Museo de Bellas Artes de Málaga and the archaeological museum El Museo Arqueológico Provincial de Málaga.
The Picasso Museum
On October 25, 1881, the internationally most famous Málaga resident, Pablo Picasso, was born. He moved to Barcelona at a young age and at the age of 19 he settled down in France for good. His visits to the city were few, but the connection was there all the time. In 1953, Picasso expressed a strong desire for his life’s work to be displayed in the city of his birth. In 1973 he died, but it was only in 2003 that his wish could be fulfilled and the museum was inaugurated. Today there are over 300 works collected by the world-famous Málaga son in the form of paintings and sculptures. The museum is located in the fantastic 16th-century palace Palacio de Buenavista, in the middle of the old town of Málaga. Most of the works have been donated or lent by the artist’s heirs, including Picasso’s sister-in-law. It took a long time before Málaga would get its second world star, who was born as Juan Antonio Dominguez. He eventually moved to Madrid and then to the United States. The famous Málaga son then changed his name and is now called Antonio Banderas – one of the big stars in Hollywood.
