Málaga Este

With the commercial and industrial development that Málaga underwent in the nineteenth century, the gentry began to buy summer properties in the most prosperous hilly area to the east of the Centro district, thus giving rise to more than 50 small neighbourhoods that today make up the Málaga Este district, which is the city’s largest, although by far the most populated. The roughly 60,000 inhabitants are concentrated along the strip of land sandwiched in between the coast and the hills, where there are neighbourhoods full of contrasts: the exclusive houses in the calm hillside neighbourhoods, such as El Limonar, are at odds with the former fisherman’s quarters situated along the coast, such as El Palo.

Following the coast towards the east from La Malagueta beach you can walk along the seaside promenade for several kilometres, passing through various neighbourhoods and their respective beaches. You will come to places such as Los Baños del Carmen beach, named after an old spa dating from 1918 that, after decades of neglect, was recently converted into a restaurant with an incredible terrace that juts out into the Mediterranean. A little further along is the neighbourhood of Pedregalejo, which began in the nineteenth century as a summer resort for Málaga’s well-to-do. Along its lovely seaside promenade, full of beach bars perfect for a few tapas, it’s common to find foreign residents and students who have come to learn Spanish at some of the many language schools in the area.

A little bit further towards the east, separated from Pedragalejo by the Arroyo Jaboneros river, is the modest neighbourhood of El Palo, which has managed to retain some of its traditional seafaring spirit. Here you’ll find jábegas—traditional boats that date from the Phoenician period—sailing the seas and former fisherman’s homes known as casas mata along the seaside promenade, along with several trusty old beach bars where you can try the traditional espeto de sardinas (sardines cooked on skewers over an open fire). If you come to El Palo in mid-July, be sure not to miss its traditional Fiestas Marineras y Deportivas, a local festival whose highpoint is a land and sea procession in which Virgen del Carmen [Our Lady of Mount Carmel] is taken out to sea by boat. El Palo is also a great place to go to climb Mount San Antón, a hill that locals have gone on pilgrimage to for centuries, offering incredible views of the city and the bay of Málaga from a height of 500 metres.

At the district’s furthest point along the coast is the neighbourhood of El Candado, where the small El Candado marina is located. A little further along, between said neighbourhood and La Araña, you can also visit the Peñón del Cuervo, a great rock formation that divides the beautiful and isolated beach of the same name in two.

Leaving behind the coast, the most luxurious and spectacular villas are in the hillside neighbourhoods, such as El Limonar, where we recommend visiting Villa Suecia, the first Modernist residence to be built in Málaga in 1904. Another example of the spending power of the gentry of the time is Villa Fernanda, a Regionalist-style mansion with romantic gardens in the neighbourhood of Miramar.