Málaga

Málaga. It’s our last port before heading back to our starting point of Barcelona. Just as Cádiz was advertised as the entry point for tours to Seville, Málaga is advertised by Viking as the start point for excursions to Granada and Ronda. As we spent wonderful days in all these destinations back in 2015, we again defaulted to a local walking tour of the port city. Málaga was new to us.

Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantine’s, Visigoths, Moors, etc., the usual heritage of suspects. Málaga was important enough in Punic times to mint coins. During the Reconquista, it took the Catholic Monarchs six months to starve the Moors into surrender, one of the last Andalusian strongholds to fall, in 1487. Málaga was often the scene of rebellion and resistance, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries. With a population of 600,000, it now has a service-based economy, including tourism, technology and finance.

Our excursion was partly by bus and partly on foot, all outside. We were driven to the top of the surrounding hills to start our tour.

The view from Gibralfaro Castle, including (right) La Malagueta Bullring, inaugurated in 1976 and (left) Santa Iglesia Catedral Basílica de la Encarnación de Málaga. I cut and pasted the name.

Left: Gibralfaro Castle, a legacy of the Moors. Right: A view of the Viking Vesta. The Vikings made a less friendly visit to Málaga, raiding the city in the 9th century.

We passed the City Hall and another of dozens of churches. The blue hue is due to the bus window tinting.

Scenes in the city

Left: The cathedral. Right: A palace, now a museum.

Later, we did break off from the group to try to enter the cathedral, despite a 10 euro entry fee, but our timing was bad. It was a Sunday and a service was about to begin. Apparently we didn’t look like local worshipers. We paid the price for our diversion, failing to rendezvous with our group. We saved ourselves by joining another Viking tour group on its way back to the ship. I wonder if the tip we left the guide got shared with our first guide. 

Left: The entrance to the cathedral. Right: The entrance (once) to a predecessor to the cathedral, now otherwise a nondescript building.

More street scenes.

Two more churches. The one on the right was converted from a mosque. The minaret was converted to a bell tower. Note the Moorish-style entrance, now a window.

Top: Frances, Pablo and me. Bottom left: A memorial to one of Málaga’s many revolts. Lower right: A tribute to Málaga’s fishing past.

Left: Picasso’s birthplace on Plaza de Merced. Right: The plaza is a classic venue for late lunch dining, even in the winter.

Left: The Moor citadel, Alcazaba, built in the 11th century and home to Arabian caliphs. Right: Below the palace are the remains of a Roman theater.

Left: Roman basins, part of a salted fish factory. Right: The entrance to both the theater and the palace. This is as close as we got.

Left: The lady was offering free tastes of candy. The picture originally had Frances in it, chewing away, but she insisted I crop her out of the photo. Right: A Palestinian protest/rally. Over 5% of Spain’s population is Muslim, the highest since the Reconquista—and growing.

We have a day at sea before arriving back at our starting point in Barcelona. And we were just settling in. 😊