Málaga has been an important Mediterranean city since the Phoenicians settled there in the eighth century BC, at first looking for a strategic harbour and then discovering sea snails there which were a source of the famous Tyrian purple natural dye. Later settlers in Málaga have also left their historical mark on the city; there are the remains of a Roman theatre, the Alcazaba, one of best-preserved Moorish palatial fortifications in Spain, and the huge imposing cathedral and other religious buildings spanning back to the Christian Reconquest in 1487. Like most of the rest of the Costa del Sol, modern settlers tend to be tourists – the very rich ones can be seen aboard their luxury yachts, which are often moored at Málaga’s ultra-modern marina between the beach and the old town. Over the past 20 years, though, officials have made a concerted effort to entice tourists away from only enjoying the surrounding beaches by creating an impressive array of food and cultural offerings. Málaga now has 40 museums, the most important being the Picasso museum, a branch of the Pompidou Centre and The Carmen Thyssen museum, and a myriad of good restaurants and bars.
As is the case across a lot of the south of Spain, people crowd into tapas bars to share dishes of everything from the Russian salad at El Refectorium to plates of cold prawns and tiny tube glasses of Málaga and Moscatel wines directly from the barrel at La Antigua Casa de la Guardia. Everywhere you go in Málaga there is a sense that being a cultural centre has made Malagueños take more pride and interest in their culinary culture – and, as a result, the city’s offerings get better and better. One of the most celebrated foods of Málaga is the concha fina, known highly poetically as queen of the sands. A species of giant clam, it can be found throughout the city and is typically served raw on ice with a squeeze of lemon and black pepper. Another famous seafood dish, which you can go to beachside bars to enjoy, is the sardine espeto. Six sardines are skewered on a spike and then stuck into sand to be cooked by fire. It’s a Málagan tradition which is thought to go back to the Phoenicians, although it was more recently revived in the nineteenth century, and the beachside espeto cooking of the city now extends to other types of fish.