A Tasty Suggestion
The Restaurant-Museum 'La Casa del Ángel' is situated in a completely restored 19th-century house, decorated in 18th century style.
Inside the restaurant-museum is the Florentine-style marble in the bar area, adorned with birds and flowers, and semi-precious stones like lapis lazuli and agate. The antique flooring is a mixture of hand-made clay in ochre and earth tones in bronze and stained glass.
The restroom sinks are from the 16th and 17th centuries, in mixed stone. The golden lamplight sets off the Arabian mirrors.
As for the food, for over 15 years, Ángel Garó has dedicated himself to collecting the old Andalucian cuisine recipes of his grandmother, lending a modern touch to traditional cuisine. Andalusia is renowned for having one of the most exquisite and fascinating cuisines nationally as well as internationally. The variety of its dishes can be discovered from village to village, each village elaborating its own traditional cuisine, producing a wide variety of dishes which can be compared to the most renowned recipes in the world. 'La Casa del Ángel' also pays homage to the beginnings of Andalucian cuisine with dishes of Arabian origin.
There are also creative dishes inspired by Far Eastern cuisine. The natural and elaborate, rustic and sophisticated, exotic and local combine perfectly. There is also a select wine list and a variety of liqueurs and coffees.
C/ Madre de Dios, 29 - Málaga - Bookings on +34 952 60 87 50 /
952 22 27 38, email correo@lacasadelangel.com or visit www.lacasadelangel.com
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AUGUST 31: The Malaga Summer Fair is one of the livliest events of the summer. Flamenco and fino are flowing throught the event in the colourful festival. Culminating in a firework display visit www.ayto-malaga.es for more information.
…and there are lots more great things to do and see in and around Malaga…
AUGUST 16 -24: The Feria de Malaga is Malaga’s most exciting party. The city is transformed into a traditional old Spanish town, whilst thousands of locals and visitors line the streets in fancy dress. Go to www.feria-de-malaga.es/ to find out more.
JANUARY – FEBRUARY 2009: The Malaga Carnival is filled with colour and passion as parades take to the streets. Street bands and theatre performances are also on offer for both locals and visitors. To find out more go to www.carnavaldemalaga.com/
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New guide to Nerja
A new Historical Heritage Guide (Guía del Patrimonio Histórico) to Nerja has been published by the city’s Tourism and Culture. The guide lists some 30 sites which cover the area’s history from the time of the first settlers to the more immediate past. The publication offers an outline of the heritage of Nerja and Maro with the highlight being the prehistoric settlement of the Nerja Cave, which gives an idea of the area’s earliest settlers. www.nerja.org
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Perhaps no more than a gateway to the holiday resorts and golf courses of the Costa del Sol for millions of holidaymakers, Málaga is, in fact, one of Spain’s most important cities with heaps to offer and a verve and zest for life you’re unlikely to encounter anywhere else.
There’s no doubt its reputation took a bashing in the 1970s due to a ruthless approach to town planning, but Málaga today is not what it once was. Public squares are smarter, boulevards cleaner, five-star hotels newly opened and the tapas the best it’s ever been.
Spain’s sixth-largest city is especially proud of its two most famous 20th century residents - Pablo Picasso and Antonio Banderas and if you’re passionate about art and history, this is the time to visit.
In 2003 the town panicked tourism chiefs in Madrid and Barcelona by unveiling a new Picasso Museum displaying over 200 works by the revered artist. Nor have the city’s archaeologists been idle, below the Alcazaba, a spectacular Moorish fortress, a Roman theatre has recently been excavated. And while you’re here, there’s the Castillo Gibralfaro to visit and Málaga’s 16th century cathedral, or enjoy the exotic fauna in one of the many flower-filled parks.
But maybe you’ve come with friends and just want fun. Word has it that an afternoon spent stopping off at some of the town’s tapas bars will introduce you to more Spaniards in a couple of hours than you’ll meet in Torremolinos for a week. What’s more, you don’t need to leave town to hit the beach, La Malagueta is long, sandy and clean and there’s great value accommodation all over town.
The pedestrianised old quarter is abundantly stocked with bars, teahouses and restaurants, while the leafy boulevards, covered market and brilliant flamenco stores make shopping a treat.
Malaga is a “real” Spanish city, soaked in cultural heritage and at ease with that seductive Mediterranean draw card – al fresco dining.
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La Manquita, the one-towered cathedral, is a highlight of the city and a good starting point. It stands over the city’s labyrinth of narrow, Moorish alleys punctuated with characteristic squares. Inside the church, take a look at the 4,000-pipe organ, if you’re lucky the organist will be practising, and don’t miss the religious art, particularly the intricately carved mahogany and cedar choir stalls. As you’re here, also take a peek at the adjoining church, the Iglesia del Sagrario with its stunning altar.
Branching out of the maze of alleys is the Marques de Larios, a wide nineteenth century avenue. Then stroll up the tree-lined Alameda Principal, past the university, customs and town hall buildings to the Arab fortress (Alcazaba) and the Castillo de Gibralfaro on the hilltop that overlooks the bay. The 14th century zig-zagged walled Moorish fortress has a visitors’ centre with displays depicting five centuries of Malagan history. The shady terraced gardens are superb for ambling around, but for perfect views venture up further to the hilltop Castillo de Gibralfaro.
Back down in town, stop off for a light lunch and cooling cerveza, beer, and then head along Calles San Augustin and Granada to Plaza Merced, to Picasso’s birthplace, now a museum with changing exhibitions.
Start your evening in a tapas restaurant. For just over £1 a plate you can choose from a range of local specialities, including stews, potato salad, seafood and cod doughnuts. And then live like the locals - move on to the next one.
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As you’d expect there’s no shortage of options in this popular tourist town, but be sure to book ahead and not just in summer. Flybehotels.com offers plenty of choice from luxury hotels to self-catering apartments both in the city centre and along the coast. But if you want to venture west along the coast to Torremolinos, the three-star Kristal provides great value for money, or book the three-star Flamingo, also in Torremolinos and just 15 minutes from both the beach and town centre. Book on +44 (0) 871 900 8297 or visit www.flybehotels.com
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By car: Explore the city and the countryside in comfort and style at great prices! Get the best deal by checking Flybe's partner Avis for the best available car hire rates at www.flybe.com/avis
By road: Just 11 kms (7 miles) from the airport, Malaga’s city centre is easily reached via the
N-340 (Malaga) or the coastal road, the E-15. Contact Flybe’s car rental partner Avis for the best available car hire rates at www.flybe.com/avis
By bus or coach: Take the No 19 from the airport to the city from outside the main arrivals hall.
By rail: A train service to the city centre runs every 30 minutes from a station outside the international terminal.
By taxi: The journey into the city centre takes approximately 20 minutes and costs around €15.
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Nearly all the major sights are within the same compact area and can be easily visited on foot, but the local bus service is efficient and taxis are cheap.
For trips outside Málaga transport is good, particularly along the coast. The main RENFE train station is roughly 15 minutes’ walk west of the city centre. From here you can easily get to other places on the Costa del Sol, there are also services to Córdoba, Seville, Madrid and Barcelona.
The bus station is just north of the train station, on Paseo de los Tilos. Frequent services to all main destinations in the region, particularly Ronda and coastal resorts. For train information tel: +34 952 360 202 for buses tel: +34 952 350 061.
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Whatever the sport, Malaga and the whole surrounding area is an ideal destination for a whole host of activities including golf, swimming, sailing, diving, windsurfing, competition fishing, canoeing, trekking, tennis, paddle tennis, athletics, cycling, archery or equestrian sports.
Golf: One of the major draws and the Malaga area boasts around 30 different courses, some of them ranked among the best in the World.
Sports: The city of Malaga has become the preferential venue for many top-level sports events, the city having hosted such events as the final rounds of the Davis Cup, the National Basketball League (ACB), the National Athletics Championships, the European Athletics Super League and it was the starting point of the inaugural lap of the 2006 Tour de España cycle race.
Regatta: Malaga also organises a number of sporting events outside the official competition schedules, such as the International Oxford-Cambridge-Malaga Regatta, with the participation of these two teams of university rowers that compete against each other every year on London’s Thames in one of the world’s most watched races and who measured their skills against rowers from the Royal Mediterranean Club of Malaga.
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There are already close to three million legal foreign residents in Spain and the Spanish Ministry of Tourism expects this to grow by one million over the next six years and to treble by 2025.
The Costa del Sol’s capital, Malaga, has a strong and buoyant property market and the nearby towns of Marbella and Estepona are also great Costa del Sol investment areas, both easily accessible from the main coastal road and within easy driving reach of Malaga International Airport.
The Costa del Sol - one of the most profitable property investment markets in the world - is on the south coast of Spain and covers around 160km of coastline. According to propertyshowrooms.com, in recent years Costa del Sol property investors have enjoyed profits of between 30%-100% within 12 months and, although this has slowed down slightly, the Costa del Sol remains an excellent are in which to purchase property.
Golf has a huge influence on property in the Costa del Sol as it provides the area with a steady off-season stream of visitors. This provides Costa del Sol property investors with a constant demand for their rental property and a flow of retiring golf enthusiasts looking to purchase golf property along the entire length of the Costa del Sol.
Malaga airport (Pablo Ruiz Picasso) is Spain’s fourth busiest airport and is an attraction for foreign property purchasers who wish to invest within easy access of the airport. www.propertyshowrooms.com
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Málaga is the sixth-biggest city in Spain and known for its tourism. Over the past couple of decades, massive investment has transformed the city and surrounding area with increasingly upscale property construction along the coast and up into the hills. As a result, engineering and related firms have all enjoyed unprecedented growth with structural, geo-technical engineering, architectural firms and estate agents flourishing. And although olive groves (Spain is the world’s largest supplier), citrus farms and vineyards still carpet the countryside, tourism and related services are the backbone of the town’s economy. The region generates four percent of Spain’s total GDP and employs 12 percent of Andalucia’s population.
The love-affair between sun-loving Brits and their second homes on the Costa del Sol has been well-documented. But property prices are not the jaw-dropping deals they once were, the old rule of supply and demand has kicked in and you have to hunt hard to find a true bargain. That said, new villas and apartments come on-stream daily. A brand-new villa in landscaped gardens with pool can be had for around £90,000, a four-bed village house with roof terrace and courtyard but in need of refurbishment is for sale at £52,800. Both within easy reach of Málaga airport. And because of the high number of Brits buying here, English-speaking solicitors and estate agents are easy to source.
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Alcazaba - Open Tuesday-Sunday 08.30-19.00, entry €1.80 or €3 if combined with Castillo, tel: +34 952 216 005. Work on this former palace and fortress started in the 700s by the Moors, but most of what you can now see dates from the 11th century. It was occupied by both the Phoenicians and Romans, but suffered badly during the Catholic Reconquista. It was restored in the 1930s and now you can wander about the terraced gardens, fortified walls and through huge gateways. Great for city and port views, have a look at the Roman theatre recently unearthed below.
Castillo Gibralfaro - Open 08.30-19.00. Castillo Gibralfaro means lighthouse hill and is linked to the Alcazaba by path, but it’s a hot and not always safe walk in summer, so take the No. 35 bus from the Paseo del Parque up to visit both monuments. The Castillo is a ruined Moorish castle built in the 14th century. Climb to the top for the town’s best views. There’s a museum and scale model here and part of it has been converted into a parador hotel, however, it’s small and vacancies are unlikely.
Cathedral - Open 10.00-18.45, closed Sundays, entry €2. Built in the 16th century, one of its towers was left unfinished, giving it a lop-sided appearance and awarding it the unkind nickname la Manquita, one-armed lady. A costly restoration has recently been finished to give what was a rather gloomy interior plenty of light. This illuminates some superb 1662 carvings of saints. You can visit the Capilla de San José and Capilla de la Encamación, but best chapel of all is the Santa Bábara, emblazoned with statues of more saints. The cathedral also has a small museum.
Museo Picasso - Calle Agustín, tel: +34 952 602 731. As the birthplace of Picasso, Málaga has made the most of him, albeit somewhat belatedly. In 2003, to launch the museum the town purchased 182 of his works from the Picasso family and more are in the pipeline. Plenty of originals never shown elsewhere are on show - a must for fans of modern art - for more information visit www.museopicassomalaga.org or www.fundacionpicasso.es. Some early paintings and sketches are also displayed at his birthplace, Casa Natal Picasso, on plaza de la Merced.
English cemetery - Mon-Fri 09.00-17.00, Sat-Sun 09.00-11.00. Although it seems an unlikely attraction, this is a beautiful spot. It was established in the 19th century by a British consul who wanted a decent burial for “infidels”, non-Catholics. Until then they were buried on the beach only to make unwelcome reappearances at a later date. The gravestones make fascinating reading, in fact Hans Christian Andersen claimed he could ‘well understand how a splenetic Englishman might take his own life to be buried here.’
Nearby is the city’s bullring, built in 1874 and still well used with a capacity for 14,000. On the Paseo del Parque, the town’s Ayuntamiento, is an unusual art nouveau building and on the opposite side of the Alcazaba is the Museo de Bellas Artes, Calle San Agustín, in a restored 16th century palace. It’s worth a look for some good medieval polychrome icons and a number of Picassos on the first floor.
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Torremolinos: Nearest resort west of Málaga is Torremolinos. There’s no doubt this is a loud, brash party town in summer, but in winter, you might be pleasantly surprised. Plenty of Spanish visit here, giving it a core of good restaurants and the local authorities are working hard to paint it ‘green’ - count the number of new trees and plantings across town. The town’s four beaches are linked by a promenade, but the nicest spot is probably Playa de Carihuela, an old fisherman’s quarter. Here you’ll find genuine tapas for a quiet lunch and a drink with locals, a far cry from Torremolinos’ usual image.
Marbella: Further along the coast, but still easily reached from Málaga, Marbella pulls in the international jet-set. In fact such is its cachet, that photographers from the Spanish!Hola! magazine reside here permanently to glimpse passing celebs. Nowhere is wealth demonstrated more transparently than at Puerto Banús marina, where the luxury yachts of pop stars jostle for space with those of the latest lottery-winner.
Plaza de los Naranjos: Marbella’s old town is a mass of narrow alleyways, pretty squares and white-washed houses festooned with flowers, nowhere prettier than Plaza de los Naranjos, orange-tree square. The Museo de Bosai, tel: +34 952 862 926, is very popular, displaying landscaped gardens and miniature trees above water stocked with turtles and fish.
Ronda: For a glimpse of a charmingly historic Spanish town, head inland to Ronda. Outstandingly beautiful, a picturesque bridge spans a steep gorge that divides the old and new towns. The town boasts the oldest bullring in Spain, but only stages three bullfights a year, including some of the country’s most prestigious, such as La Goyesca, held in September in full 18th century costume. The old town, La Ciudad, is a jumble of Moorish buildings, with a central leafy square, a lovely church and a number of small museums. Ernest Hemingway popularised the town in Death in the Afternoon, and it was an equal hit with Orson Welles who wished his ashes to be scattered here.
Early summer is the best time to explore the mountainous surrounding Serrania de Ronda countryside, which is blanketed with bright-coloured wild flowers. The mountains offer excellent hiking tracks. Mijas, 20 miles away, is also gloriously pretty.
Seville: One of the country’s most vibrant and stunningly beautiful cities, is a couple of hours’ drive from the Málaga. For a taste of Andalucia’s dramatically changing countryside, take the train to Antequera, a small town with more monuments per square metre than anywhere else in Spain.
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Malagueños are renowned for loving a juerga, a good night out, so whether you’re into heel-stamping flamenco-dancing, want to sit and reminisce with an older generation in the plazas and squares or want to be seen at the hottest clubs in town, Málaga’s nightlife sets the pace for the Costa del Sol.
In summer, the streets between Plaza de la Contitucion and Plaza de Siglo are packed with trendy young Spaniards spilling out of bars and clubs. Many of the most popular are around Plaza de Uncibay, Calle Granada and Plaza Merced, others are around the bullring.
If you’re visiting in summer, nightlife slides out towards El Palo with its beachside discos, particularly at weekends. Saturday is the big night out and also the evening for true flamenco in many of the outlying villages. www.andalucia.org
For salsa dancing try La Habana (+34 95 260 8750), more Latin sounds and live salsa on Wednesdays are on at Salsa, Calle Méndez Nuñez. For good piña coladas and great music, try Cantina Cubano, Calle Granada.
A good choice of discos can be found in the Malagueta area, just south of the bullring, Ragtime, is popular for blues, jazz or flamenco all staged on different nights.
If you’re after something quieter, consider a night at the Teatro Cervantes (+34 3952 224109) where Malaga’s Philharmonic Orchestra plays most weekends. For opera, theatre and dance check out Theatre Teatro Cervantes, Calle Ramos Martin 2, tel: +34 952 224 100
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Andalucia is the archetypal Spanish destination for bullfighting, tapas, sun-sea-and-sand, fiestas, whitewashed villages and extreme heat. But it’s also the birthplace of flamenco dancing. Rather than booking tickets for a tourist show, seek out lesser known venues for spontaneous displays. The rule of thumb is the smaller the venue, the better the quality. Look out for a peña club where the standard is guaranteed to be extremely high and the flamenco authentic. Try Jerez’ Centro Andaluz de Flamenco in the heart of the old gypsy quarter, open 09.30-14.00.
Genuine flamenco comprises three elements - guitar, singing and dance and is generally sad rather than joyful in tone. But the passion of the foot-stamping dancers, swirling of fabulous dresses and frenzied strumming of guitar leaves even the on-lookers gasping for breath.
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