The first time I went to Málaga, more than three decades ago, this Andalusian provincial city was an unreconstructed harbour town with little to recommend beyond its balmy subtropical climate and its situation on a sweeping Mediterranean bay. The streets of its centro histórico were grimy, traffic-ridden, and best avoided at night. Culturally speaking, I found there wasn’t much to write home about on a tacky tourist postcard. However, more recent visits have revealed a very different Málaga. How the city shrugged off its less-than-glittering reputation to become a Premier League Spanish destination, boasting a slew of world-class art museums and a reinvigorated downtown zone, is a heartening story of culture as a force for urban renewal. Below, find the most exciting, inspiring and intriguing things to do in Malaga.
How many days is ideal in Málaga?
The more Málaga’s fame has grown as a cultural destination, ironically, the more rushed and superficial visits to the city have tended to become. The coach parties from Torremolinos and the cruise ships’ passengers disembarking in Málaga harbour spend no longer than is needed for a quick canter around the Picasso Museum, a retail safari along the new Muelle Uno and a selfie in front of the Cathedral. For a deeper dive into the city’s diverse gazpacho of ingredients, artistic, architectural and gastronomical, you’ll need to plan on a stay of at least four or five days.
What is Málaga famous for?
Once upon a time, this Andalucían provincial city was best known for raisins, for sweet wine, for a style of flamenco guitar known as the malagueña – and as the birthplace of one Pablo Picasso. More recently, it gained importance thanks to the economic heft of its commercial harbour and the tourist-tastic Costa del Sol (of which it’s still the de facto capital). In the 21st century, however, a remarkable collection of art museums has brought the city global fame.
The best things to do in Málaga
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1. Max out on the great museums
Málaga waited centuries for a world-class art museum, then half a dozen came along at once. The Museo Picasso, the Museo Carmen Thyssen, the Centre Pompidou Málaga, the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, and the Museo de Málaga, all have their strengths and specialities. All are elegantly accommodated too: one in an old tobacco factory, one in a brightly coloured cube on the revamped Muelle Uno dock, two in mansions with carved ceilings in arabesque designs and white courtyards with marble columns. But it’s the Thyssen, in the Renaissance Palacio de Villalón, that gets my ten points. Baroness Carmen Thyssen’s superb collection of 19th-century Andalucían genre paintings changed my mind about an era in Spanish art I’d always dismissed as sugary and sentimental. And Zurbarán’s Santa Marina, one of the jewels of her collection, is surely worth a few minutes of anyone’s city break.