We learned of the traditional fishing industry and its influence on the area. Though not as predominant as it once was, fish is a key component of the Malagan diet and culture. Along the beach, there are dozens of chiringuitos, cooking espeto (fish, often sardines) in the traditional manner of burning olive wood to create heat, and placing fish on the sand. Today, this process has been improved using old fishing boats and every chiringuitos has its own boat to cook the fish. The espeto has been proposed as a candidate for designation by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage. I wished we’d have been able to try the espeto but they don’t start cooking until the middle of the afternoon and we had to be back on the ship by 4.

We drove through the Palo area of Malaga, with the small fisherman houses and narrow walkways. The houses sit right on the beach and are colorful with bright red and green doors. This must be a very good life, to live so near the beach and be able to eat at a chiringuitos every night!

Then we drove through an affluent area of the city to look at more unique architecture, before heading to the highest point of the city, Gibralfalo. Here are the ruins of a 14th century castle, plus several lookout points and walking trails. The view was very nice and we could see the former bull fighting arena, Plaza de Toros de la Malagueta. Built in 1876, today the arena is used for concerts and music festivals.

After our tour, we walked along the new Quay 1 promenade and enjoyed the sunshine. We had some lunch of paella and barbecue pork before walking the promenade to the new Malaga cruise terminal. Malaga has made significant investments in their port facilities in recent years and they are really nice. In fact, the cruise terminal is so new that many of the shops and duty- free facilities were not yet open.

We feel like we barely scratched the surface of the sights to see in this town and we hope to return some day.

Next stop in two days: Madeira, Portugal.