Malaga – A Needle in a Haystack

Everyone has their own way of describing their friends and proceed to using labels, such as “best” to truly define and differentiate each specific relationship. When it comes to friends, I don’t often consider the time we have been friends. Easy for me to say as I have a long history of moving. Friends are those who stick around, regardless of distance and circumstances, which is where Alejandro fits in.

On that same trip to España, Alejandro and I travelled together from Seville to Malaga, one of Spain’s many coastal cities receiving hordes of tourists in search for a beach. That time of the season generally sees many British, German and other Northern Europeans looking to escape from the cold grip of Old Man Winter. In Canada, we tend to call those people Snow Birds, but let’s call these, Tundra Vikings.

Again, Malaga was not a city I was incredibly familiar with. Alejandro on the other hand, visited frequently as he had cousins and uncles living in the city. Another of his uncles, this time on his mother’s side, left us with his apartment for our long weekend, which was ideal to cover as much as we could of the city on foot. This is the best way to really take in most European cities, as their radius is much smaller than those in North America due to the demand of family homes in the suburbs.

Malaga in March (sounds like a Hemingway novel) is a relatively quiet place. Alejandro and I walked the waterfront, looking for his favourite restaurant: El Palo. We literally walked all the way across town to the end of the beach, probably a good 10 kilometers, which under the hot sun (28 degrees or so) felt more like 900 clicks. Most of the culinary treasures are seafood, and most of it is deep fried, but still fantastic.

Malaga is known for some Picasso Museums, it is bull-fighting central and while we visited, they had Spain’s cinematic awards. Malaga has earned a special place in Spain’s modern culture, evolved into a key tourist destination on the Costa del Sol and is a small Mecca for high tech. All of the history from the Roman and Carthaginian Empires with a blend of Moor makes it a true gem on the Mediterranean.