Malaga, Granada, and a pinch of Cadiz, Spain

[SignalHillHiker]

I took the past two weeks off for my first international vacation since just before the pandemic. I took way too many pictures so I'll try to narrow it down throughout the day through lots of posts in this thread

I spent most of my time staying with two friends who winter in suburban Malaga (Carihuela specifically, but we went out frequently in Torremolinos proper and Fuengirola) and we took a few day trips out to Granada, Ronda, Setenil de las Bodegas, etc.

Given Canada's comparatively limited airline service and my own city's extreme isolation, three of those days were eaten up by travel - half in the wrong direction

Let's go.

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Leg one was getting to Toronto...



Leg two was flying back all that way and on to Dublin...



And leg three was a jump down to Costa del Sol, including the most spectacular sunrise I have ever seen...



For context, this was the winter hellscape I was leaving. A colourful city helps dull all trauma, but it doesn't help when it's below freezing. Spent the days before drowning all my plants (and those I'm temporarily caring for on behalf of the two friends who were already in Malaga) and spoiling my cat.

















Then, adios to St. John's...





The airport of all places has one of my fave abstract aerials of the city ever...















And then a quick run through Toronto's Pearson Airport to catch a razor-thin connection...





We were delayed a little once on the plane due to issues getting the baggage on board, and also had to get de-iced.



But we did get out...





And arrived in beautiful Dublin to a crisp 6C and frosty views that may as well have been tropical they came with such relief











And then off to Malaga...











And, straight from the airport, caught the commuter rail to Torremolinos proper to walk 20 minutes to my buddies' place in Carihuela.

[SignalHillHiker]

We walked back to Torremolinos proper that evening because there are a number of things to do there.













The next day we went to check out the old core of Torremolinos. Starting, of course, from Carihuela...











We started with breakfast. The Spanish dining schedule is quite different - in Newfoundland we tend to have supper around 4:30-5:30 but in Spain lots of restaurants aren't even open that early. It's completely routine to eat at 9:30, 10:30, whenever - but late. And I still couldn't tell you when they eat their other daily meals lol









































In the Canary Islands, given their unique time zone and more progressive history than the rest of Spain, they like to joke they're "an hour behind and a century ahead." Torremolinos has something similar and is very, very proud of its history as a refuge of sorts for queer people during the dictatorship.































And then back to Carihuela...

[SignalHillHiker]

Another lovely night in Torremolinos, this time in Carihuela as well. A lot of the tourist infrastructure in Carihuela is Dutch - lots of Dutch-owned businesses, businesses with Dutch-speaking staff, etc. It's interesting - especially as someone who doesn't speak Dutch or Spanish. The snippets you catch on the breeze of Dutch jerk your attention because they sound almost English in comparison lol

















And the next day, my first venture into Malaga proper. It apparently used to have a reputation for being as dirty as Naples and as dangerous as Marseilles, but about three decades ago the city authorities set out on a mission to turn into one of the most popular, fastest-growing cities in Spain. The change has, apparently, been quite remarkable. It's certainly a very safe-feeling city, and the old core (as well as the countless suburban pedestrian cores) are gorgeous.

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[SignalHillHiker]

The next day started with a run along the boardwalk through Carihuela to the next suburban core, Benalmadena. It's a weird one. Kind of like some cross between a Moorish and Saudi theme park, but a great beach very active with surfers and great Italian food.

























Later we took the commuter train to the end of the line, a dense little city called Fuengirola.

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And THEN climbed up to a castle before heading home to Carihuela.

[SignalHillHiker]

Then yet another night out in Torremolinos...

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One of the interesting things about suburban Spain is that in a lot of core areas, there's this almost dystopian practice of building on top of the old street grid and closing it off with buildings that have a HUGE footprint. Below is a perfect example - it's a street, not the interior of a building, and above are buildings with pools and gardens and Germanic language-speaking tourists comfortably enjoying the sun. On paper, brutal, but the experience of it is oddly nice. It feels like you're in on a secret.













It was fascinating to be in the home of flamenco whenever a song in that style played - young and old alike were stomping the streets, spinning their hands. It was really beautiful, especially the older, married gays They got moves.

[SignalHillHiker]

And then, back to Malaga for Carnival. Malaga's is surprisingly small since the pandemic, and geared mainly toward children and families, but still worth checking out if you're in the area.

[SignalHillHiker]

The next day was the first of our two road trips in a rental. We drove to Granada to check out the Alhambra.

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We started with a walk around Granada.

[SignalHillHiker]

Then the Alhambra, emphasis on the Nasrid Palace.

[SignalHillHiker]

[SignalHillHiker]

And then the rest!

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[SignalHillHiker]

[SignalHillHiker]

The next day we went to see two I've been waiting to visit - Ronda and Setenil de las Bodegas. Ronda has a huge bridge that has only collapsed once (hehe), and Setenil is built in a ravine under cliffs that from a ceiling for many of the buildings and even some of the streets.

[SignalHillHiker]

[SignalHillHiker]

[SignalHillHiker]

[SignalHillHiker]

Across the bridge is more medieval core of Ronda, including an old city gate.

[SignalHillHiker]

We went for a little hike down to the bottom of the bridge and back up to the town.

[SignalHillHiker]

Next up was nearby Setenil de las Bodegas, also in Cadiz, the only province we really hit other than Malaga and Granada.

Set to one of my fave Mexican singers for two reasons... the vibe was similar, and also that relates to my only complaint about a tiny minority of Spaniards. We met many people, had lots of great conversations. Service industry workers are friendly without the fake smile facade you get in most of North America. Drivers are... truly exceptional, at least in the south. They treat driving as a collective exercise and let everyone do whatever they're trying to do. We even witnessed one exchange where a guy drifting into another lane got honked on, honked back, hands waving out the windows of both cars, that eventually turned into both doing a song and laughing But... a tiny minority will forcefully clarify you're not Latin American, grimace if you smile along to a Spanish American song, literally frown and walk away from you if you compliment Colombia's accent. There's definitely a bit of prejudice Latin Americans must face there.

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[SignalHillHiker]

[SignalHillHiker]