Description
Málaga is a
municipality of Spain, capital of the
Province of Málaga, in the
autonomous community of
Andalusia. With a population of 571,026 in 2018, it is the second-most populous city of
Andalusia after
Seville and the sixth most populous in
Spain. It lies on the
Costa del Sol (
Coast of the Sun) of the
Mediterranean, about 100 kilometres (62.14
miles) east of the
Strait of Gibraltar and about 130 km (80.78 mi) north of Africa.
Málaga’s history spans about 2,800 years, making it one of the oldest cities in Europe. The archaeological remains and monuments from the Phoenician, Roman, Arabic and Christian eras make the historic center of the city an “open museum”, displaying its history of nearly 3,000 years.
The painter and sculptor
Pablo Picasso, Hebrew poet and Jewish philosopher
Solomon Ibn Gabirol and the actor
Antonio Banderas were born in Málaga. The magnum opus of Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona, “
Malagueña“, is named after the music of this region of Spain.
The most important business sectors in Málaga are tourism, construction and technology services, but other sectors such as transportation and
logistics are beginning to expand.
The
Andalusia Technology Park (PTA), located in Málaga, has enjoyed significant growth since its inauguration in 1992. Málaga is home of the region’s largest bank,
Unicaja, and it is the fourth-ranking city in
economic activity in Spain behind
Madrid,
Barcelona and
Valencia, which ranks first in Andalusia.
The
Roman theatre of Málaga, which dates from the 1st century BC, was rediscovered in 1951.
Málaga is a port city on southern Spain’s Costa del Sol, known for its high-rise hotels and resorts jutting up from yellow-sand beaches. Looming over that modern skyline are the city’s 2 massive hilltop citadels, the Alcazaba and ruined Gibralfaro, remnants of Moorish rule. The city’s soaring Renaissance cathedral is nicknamed La Manquita (“one-armed lady”) because one of its towers was curiously left unbuilt.
