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Málaga

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City of Malaga, capital of the Costa del Sol, at sunset.

© WillSelarep/Getty Images

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Overview

If you think the Costa del Sol is soulless, you clearly haven’t been to Málaga. Loaded with history and brimming with a youthful vigour that proudly acknowledges its multi-layered past, the city that gave the world Picasso has transformed itself in spectacular fashion, with half a dozen new art galleries, a radically rethought port area and a nascent art district called Soho. Not that Málaga was ever lacking in energy: the Spanish-to-the-core bar scene could put bags under the eyes of an insomniac madrileño, while the food culture encompasses both Michelin stars and tastefully tatty fish shacks.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • buenavista palace which houses the picasso museum

    Museo Picasso Málaga

    Málaga

    This unmissable museum in the city of Picasso’s birth provides a solid overview of the great master and his work, although, surprisingly, it only came to…

  • Malaga

    Catedral de Málaga

    Málaga

    Málaga’s elaborate cathedral was started in the 16th century on the site of the former mosque. Of the mosque, only the Patio de los Naranjos survives, a…

  • Alcazaba, Malaga, Andulucia, Spain

    Alcazaba

    Málaga

    No time to visit Granada’s Alhambra? Then Málaga’s Alcazaba can provide a taster. The entrance is beside the Roman theatre, from where a meandering path…

  • Woman on wall near narrow rampart of Castillo de Gibralfaro, originally built 8th century, looking at view from on high of Malaga, Costa del Sol, Andalucia, Spain

    Castillo de Gibralfaro

    Málaga

    One remnant of Málaga’s Islamic past is the craggy ramparts of the Castillo de Gibralfaro, spectacularly located high on the hill overlooking the city…

  • Historic viewpoint in Jardin Botanico La Concepcion in Malaga.

    Jardín Botánico Histórico La Concepción

    Málaga

    These exotic gardens were conceived in the mid-19th century by the Loring-Heredia clan, a noble family of railway builders and bankers who bequeathed the…

  • Spain, Andalucia Region, Malaga Province

    Mercado Atarazanas

    Málaga

    North of the city's main artery, the Alameda Principal, you’ll find this striking 19th-century iron-clad building incorporating the original Moorish gate…

  • Carmen Thyssen Museum in Malaga, Spain.

    Museo Carmen Thyssen

    Málaga

    Located in an aesthetically renovated 16th-century palace in the heart of the city’s former Moorish quarter, this extensive collection concentrates on…

  • Pedestrians Walking Down A Path Lined With Palm Trees

    Paseo de España

    Málaga

    Looking like a mini-jungle when viewed from the Gibralfaro hill, this palm-lined extension of the Alameda was created in the 1890s on land reclaimed from…

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