Malaga Attractions

The processions and passion plays which take place during Holy Week are particularly extravagant and spectacular in Málaga.

The Málaga Airport is located 9km south-west of the city center and offers direct flights to a variety of international destinations.

Málaga's main traffic artery is the Alameda Principal, which extends westward for 420m/460yd, with a breadth of 42m/138ft, from the Plaza de la Marina to the Río Guadalmedina and is continued beyond the Puente de Tetuán by a wide modern street leading to the western suburbs.

Opposite the cathedral in Málaga stands the 18th century Bishop's Palace, now occupied by the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art.

From the Alcazaba in Málaga there is a good view of Gibralfaro (170m/558ft), on which are fortifications dating from the 13th century. The name of the hill is derived from the Arabic Jabal-Faruk. From the walls there are fine views of the town, the harbor and the surrounding area.

The Jardin del Retiro just outside of Malaga, noted for being one of the oldest gardens in the area, is now privately owned and closed to the public.

The Jardines de la Finca de la Concepcion in Malaga include a wide range and huge number of plants and trees on the grounds of this mansion. From the gardens there are views over the city.

In the Roman garden, a large pergola entwined with wisteria, a waterfall erupting from a froth of monstera deliciosa and a pool with black swans. There is a large collection of rubber trees, sparmannia africana, large Norfolk Island pine and soaring pillars.

From the Alameda side streets lead north to the Málaga Mercado, which is seen at its liveliest during the morning fish market.

From the west end of the Alameda in Málaga across the Puente de Tetuán is the church of San Pedro which houses the Museo de la Semana Santa. Figures, costumes and carts which are used on the processions during Holy Week are exhibited.

In Málaga, north of Picasso's birthplace, reached by way of Calle de la Victoria, is the church of Nuestra Señora de la Victoria, built on the spot where the Catholic Monarchs set up their camp. It contains a 15th century figure of the Virgen de la Victoria, patroness of the town, and two works of sculpture by Pedro de Mena.

To the east of the Plaza de la Marina in Málaga, the Paseo del Parque extends along the harbor, flanked by promenades shaded by palms and plane-trees. On its north side are the former Custom House (Aduana 18th century), now the seat of the provincial government (Gobierno Civil), and the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall, 1912-19), with a richly decorated interior. Of the fountains on the Paseo the one opposite the Málaga Town Hall, the Fuente de Neptuno (1560), is particularly notable.

From the Provincial Museum of Art, Calle San Agustín passes the church of Santiago el Mayor (1490), on the right and reaches the large Plaza de la Merced, in which (No. 15) is the house in which Picasso was born.

On the Paseo de Reding, the continuation of the Paseo del Parque, is Málaga's Plaza de Toros (Bullring, 1874).

North of the cathedral, in Calle San Agustín, is the Renaissance Palacio de Bellavista, now occupied by the Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes in Málaga. On the ground floor are works by Spanish painters of the 16th-20th Centuries, including Alonso Cano, Ribera, Murillo, Luis de Morales and Zurbarán, and sculpture by Pedro de Mena; on the upper floor are works by Málaga artists, including Picasso (represented only by two early paintings, etchings and painted pottery) and his first teacher, Muñoz Degrain.

The Sagrario, a small chapel on the north side of the cathedral in Malaga, has a very fine Isabelline doorway.