History & Art
Málaga has much to offer visitors wanting to explore its colorful and historical character. As you walk along narrow cobblestone streets, across magnificent plazas and up the steep hills leading to a magnificent view of the bay that outlines the city, Malaga's history almost speaks for itself. Málaga was founded 3,000 years ago by the Phoenicians, who called the city Malaca (= to salt) due to its function as a port for the salting of fish. The Phoenicians were the ones who originally erected the Alcazaba Fortress, hosting the Archeological Museum, overlooking the city on top of the Gibralfaro mountain, but it has since then been modified by the Roman and Moorish occupants in the recent millenium. During the Roman colonization, ca 200 - 700 AD, the citadel was strengthened and a Roman theatre was built just below it. It is today dug out and open to the public. Completing the monumental construction on top of the hill, is the magnificent Gibrofalo Castle which was built by the Moors. They used the Gibrofalo as a defensive fort during their occupation that lasted from 711 until 1487 when they surrendered the city to their conquerors, the Spanish Catholics King Fernando and Queen Isabel.

As the Muslims were expelled from Málaga, one of the mosques they built was replaced by an impressive cathedral as a symbol of the Christian God's greatness. Due to the very high costs involved in building the cathedral, it was being constructed off and on for over two hundred years and therefore incorporates a conspicuous mix of different architectural styles, such as gothic, renaissance and neo-classicist. Financial reasons also has prevented the cathedral from acquiring its originally planned second tower, hence its name La Manqita, the one armed.

Close to La Manquita are two buildings which are splendid examples of 16th century architecture; the Bishop's Palace, in which the Museum of Religious Art is situated, and the Buena Vista Palace, home to the Museum of Fine Arts. The latter accommodates about twenty showrooms where paintings and sculptures by Morales, Cano, Ribera, Sorola and Picasso are exhibited. Málaga is actually the birth town of Pablo Picasso and his birth home, which today hosts the Picasso Museum, is located at the magnificent Plaza de la Merced. The large square was built in the typical 19th century architectural style when Málaga was one of the most significant trading and commercial cities of Europe. Due to Malaga's strategic location in the midst of the popular tourist streak Costa del Sol and with excellent communications by land, sea and air, it is still today a busy and lively commercial city, not to mention modernistic and innovative. A construction underway, which may be one of the sites the people of the future marvel at the way the Alacazaba astonishes us, is the Technological Park. It will be an excellent token of the city's attempt to modernize itself while still preserving its quaint historical and tranquil ambiance.

Food & Drink
Málaga was during the Moorish rule known as the province of Figs and Wine, and the area is still famous for its fine food and, especially, its wines. Today, vineyards take up 1000 hectares of the Málaga province, cultivating grapes of the Pedro Ximénez and moscatel type. The wines produced are characteristically sweet, of which a very well known is the moscatel Málaga Virgen produced in the Axarquía area.

The Andalusian cooking tradition is claimed to consist of two main sections: the cookery of the inland and mountains, and the cookery of the sea. Due to Malaga's coastal location, it is not surprising that its cuisine is famed for its excellent seafood. A multitude of fine restaurants will serve you varied types of Paellas, the national dish of Spain, filled with the fresh morning harvest of succulent seafood, perhaps even including the special Málaga anchovies (bouqerones) of the region. Another Spanish dish of vast reputation is the Gazpacho, a soup served cold that comes in innumerable forms across the country. The Málaga specialties are often prepared with white garlic, almonds and moscatel grapes (ajo blanco con uvas) or as the porra antequera with jambugo ham and boiled eggs.