Europe's Favourite Holiday destination – Malaga

It did not take me long to understand why there were so many flights every day from Madrid to Malaga as well as from the rest of Europe to Malaga.

The Costa del Sol of the Mediterranean Sea was evident enough to make me understand why this part of Andalusia attracts so many tourists.

Though my hotel was booked in Torremolinos (12 Kilometres from Malaga), i just fell in love with the location.

While I checked in at Melia Costa del Sol, I did insist that I need a sea view room. Of course who will not prefer such a room in a hotel located on the ocean front?

The reproduction of Picasso's Two Dancing Ladies facing the sea at Torremolinos impressed me at night than in day.

Though I was too tired on the evening I landed, the cool sea breeze and the vibrant atmosphere made me walk for 3 hours straight along the coast line.

Noticably there were too many Indian restaurants for an European holiday destination (I spotted 11 numbers in one locality of Torremolinos) , all filled with European tousits mostly.

Even after my dinner I did manage to stroll down for 2 hours, through the pedestrian-only Calle San Miguel, which is lined with shops, and runs from the centre of town down to the beach.

I was lucky enough to get the glimpse of a fun fair just above the train station. The lower half of Calle San Miguel is a winding stair-stepped path, and is fun to descend as well as to climb! Even at the late hour the place was crowded with tourists.

The lady at tourist information centre though was good only in Spanish which I was not conversant by then, was very helpful in handing over all English leaflets and did explain to me in her minimal English that for the first timer the best way to get around Malaga city was by the city tour bus.

She did insist me to travel to Nerja caves, Lobo park and Gibraltar, but since my trip was limited to two days I tried to get the best of Malaga city

As guided by the lady in tourist info centre I did stroll down to Torremolinos city centre and took a bus to Malaga, as mentioned by her at the far end of the bus station I was able to locate the girl(a student of the Malaga art school!) who was selling the tickets. I did buy a 2 day ticket along with which she gave me a map of Malaga. I boarded the colourful tourist bus which arrived in few minuets, picked up an ear phone, climbed on the open top and located myself on the far end (good view to use my camera).

The best part of this bus service is you can get down at any tourist point you want, spend as much time you want and wait for the next bus to arrive (almost after every hour you have a bus at any point).

Passing through the city monuments, I got down at Castillo de Gibralfaro on the top of a mountain which dates back to the early 14th century when it was built by Yusef 1 of Granada on a former Phoenician site and lighthouse.

All that remains of this historic monument today is the series of solid ramparts which rise majestically among dense woods of pines and eucalyptus.

The small museum at the fort had few interesting things for my camera.

From the Castillo de Gibralfaro there were magnificent views of the town, bull ring and the harbour.

My next stop was at Picasso Museum, out of this works there were few paintings to my interest and quite lot of his work having reflections of his instincts. Remember strictly no cameras allowed inside the Picasso museum.

After having a sandwich and a draught beer (San Miguel, available all over Malaga), I sat at the Plaza de la Merced, where I could spot a lot of locals. My camera had a good feast.

My last stop for the day was at the Picasso Foundation, which is in fact the apartment where Picasso was born. Plaza de la Merced is just at the entrance of this building.

The next day morning, I did spend more than 3 hours at the interesting Malaga Cathedral which was built between 1528 and 1782.

I learnt that the original plans were for two towers, lack of funds resulted in completion of only one tower, by which the cathedral is affectionately named as, La Manquita ( vaguely interpreted as "one armed woman").

Entering the Cathedral through the “doorway of Chains”, the interior has influences of the Renaissance and baroque styles.

The main chapel’s structural decoration dates to the 16th century, consisting of sculptures on the upper portion of the pillars.


The notable 17th century choir stalls is made of mahogany and cedar wood and has the 42 finely carved statues of the saints behind each stall.

Also on the choir are two huge 18th century organs, each are said to be with 4,485 pipes.


More over there are 15 side chapels inside the cathedral, each one unique of it kind, decorated with sculptures and paintings like the below 19th century painting which depicts "the passion".

A short walk from the cathedral leads to the solid fortified walls of La Alcazaba fort, which dates back to the 700s, but much of the structure belongs to the mid 11th century. The entrance is through the gateway known as the Puerta del Cristo (Christ's Door), where the first mass was celebrated following the Christian victory over the town.

The pathway leads up through attractive landscaped gardens punctuated with bubbling fountains.

Just below the entrance to the Alcazaba are the ruins of a Roman amphitheatre, which dates back to the second century AD.

On my way back to train station, I came across a series of florists and got an opportunity to shoot the beautiful photo below.

When I checked in at Malaga I realised that there are lot more I couldn’t see/ enjoy at Malaga, like the mini golf clubs, dolphin watch, Aqua land……………….may be I will spend a long vacation there some other time.

Can’t stop thinking about the delicious fresh pescaíto frito (sea food) I enjoyed at the beach side restaurants of Torremolinos.