Around Malaga '22 Part One
Thursday
After a late flight from Bournemouth on the Wednesday evening, I arrived at the the airport railway station minutes after the last train of the night had departed to central Malaga, forcing me to arrange my first ever Uber.
I actually stayed in central Torremolinos located between Malaga and Fuengirola and the next day decided to walk south seeing how far I could get. I reached Benalmadena relatively quickly - a interesting resort that focuses on a marina set between residential 'islands'.
I stopped to sketch the quirky architecture that addresses the marina over a coffee. As the weather improved, the numbers of visitors increased unfortunately encouraging an nearby organ player to play continuously - my headphones helped though!
I continued walking south - each bay enticing me to walk further until I made the decision to continue all the way to Fuengirola (a 16km walk in total) as the weather continued to improve throughout the day.
Approaching the town, I sat on the promenade and sketched a piece of artwork that formed part of the public realm sitting alongside new pavilion structures that punctuate the waterfront.
I continued in the early evening towards the town centre passing through the attractive Plaza Constitucion (another potential sketching location if I had had time) before taking the train back to Torremolinos from the main station nearby.
Friday
The forecast was good and I got up early to take the train to central Malaga. I was really impressed by the city on my first visit a few years ago and was interested to see if I still felt the same the second time around.
I wandered around the old town - huge temporary arches dramatically decorated the main shopping street Marques de Larios leading me to my favourite square, Plaza de la Constitucion. I sketched here on my last visit but couldn't resist another attempt this time.
The streets are so vibrant and the structure of the old town is so complex yet compact and very walkable.
I visited the Alcazaba, a historic palatial fortification perched on the hillside overlooking the city before returning to city level once again.
The beautiful Parque Infanti Platero provides a green buffer between the city and the rejuvenated waterfront and provided the perfect setting to sit and sketch during the warmest part of the afternoon.
I continued across to the bars and restaurants that surround the old port. A huge dramatic flowing pergola dominates the quayside. It is in my opinion one of the best examples of urban dockland regenerations that I have visited.
Saturday
Today I decided to explore the area around Torremolinos on a rather overcast day.
Walking north I left the centre of the resort - the town has a reputation as a stereotypical Spanish resort but the old town is still very evident and has a charm of its own.
I found the iconic Casa de los Navajas, a charismatic villa built in 1925, pausing to sketch. The setting of the villa must have changed dramatically over the past 100 years as it sits incongruously within the modern resort.
I returned to the town centre later in the afternoon as the weather improved and later after sketching one of the charming central streets, I returned to the hotel only to discover a roof terrace with a panorama of the town. I couldn't resist one final sketch of the skyline over a glass of wine before an early night in preparation for my flight home the next morning.
