Málaga, Andalusia, Spain
I am still learning about the history of the city where I have been living for six years and on this walk I have learnt a little more about it and in great detail.
This journey through history began by crossing the Alameda Principal avenue, heading towards the Plaza de la Marina. The day had a lot of dark clouds in the sky and in fact some drops had fallen, but I was not going to stop the walk for that reason.
When I arrived at the city park, also known here as the Paseo del Parque, there is always an area where the horse-drawn carriages are waiting in case tourists and locals alike want to take a ride in them, thus covering the most central part of the city.
I was heading towards the city's busiest and most famous promenade, which is divided into Pier 1 and Pier 2.
Arriving there, I was met with two surprises. The first was a huge cruise ship of extraordinary dimensions. It bore the name Europa.
Imposing, majestic, everyone was taking pictures of it and admiring it. It was impossible not to fix one's eyes on it because it also occupied a large part of the promenade with its extension and generated shadow over it.
At the beginning of the walk I noticed that in the middle of the promenade there were huge posters with maps and writings, but at the beginning I didn't know why they were there.
Posters on the top of the columns along the route indicated what the festivity was: the 150th anniversary of the birth of the board of the Port of Malaga is celebrated in the city and a historical tour was made through the explanations that we found along the way.
Many tourists stopped, not only to see the huge cruise ship, but also to read the interesting history of the progress and development of this great port.
Malaga has been a city where people from all over the world have arrived, where many races have mixed and where, since the creation of the city, ships have been brought from different ports with Phoenician traders. This is how Malaga was formed.
While I was reading the posters with such an interesting history I had a beautiful view. On one side was the cruise ship on the quay and on the other side the Palmeral de las Sorpresas with different varieties of trees and landscaping.
So many ships came to the city that when the Catholic Monarchs reconquered the city a much larger port was needed as commercial activity was abundant.
As a result, the city's harbour grew larger and larger.
The posters explaining the history of the city had not only texts but also comparative maps and illustrations of what the city looked like in the beginning and how it grew over time.
The views with the almost completely cloudy skies gave a bright light that filtered through the white clouds and the landscape became totally different from when there is full sun.
Returning to the beautifully told history on my tour, I love ancient history, I realised that the first pier was created in 1588.
But the port of Malaga was not only a receiver of commercial ships, it was also a geo-strategic place, so many works were created by engineers and architects. It was and is strategic in every way.
Some of the illustrations were very detailed and even colourful and I paid a lot of attention to them because of their quality.
It was impressive to see maps or what looked like maps showing the creation of the first lighthouses in the 18th century.
People were strolling around in the middle of this grey day that looked like it was going to let the sun come out, while others were still admiring the big cruise ship.
Although I looked at it from time to time, I found this path so important for the history that I was fascinated to see these signs, especially the drawings, maps and photographs.
It seems that Malaga was always a very coveted city because of its value, its geographical position, development and agricultural production, but also as I said as a strategic area for example for supplying fleets.
For this reason it was also a victim of pirates who attacked the port and the city. It was necessary to keep watch night and day through the towers.
The docks had to be maintained at all times in order to extract mud for the entry of fishing boats and deep-draught ships.
A small mention is made of the chapel where the fishermen worshipped the Virgen del Carmen.
Halfway along the route, I could see different parts of the place, as the children played in a green area with the pigeons.
A Granier café is always a protagonist wherever you go. In this case the view of the sea from this particular one is beautiful.
The river Guadalmedina at that time always flooded and caused a lot of inconvenience to the population, the plantations and the port and for that reason the river had to be diverted and certain problems had to be solved.
The coast was growing, especially because more and more ships were arriving. At the end of the 18th century.
It also explains all the works that had to be carried out or at least tried to be carried out and the different opinions of the technicians, so that the sands of the rivers would not enter the port, as well as the subject of the strong storms that came from Africa and how to remedy them.
Looking at some of the drawings, as I read and learned more and more, I was surprised. Seeing the castles and the Customs House many years before the way they are today and the large amount of land that has been reclaimed from the sea. The Paseo del Parque did not exist yet.
As the problems were increasing due to the extension of the docks, the Junta del Puerto de Málaga was created in the 19th century.
In the image above you can see that the city park did not exist, but with the land reclaimed from the sea this beautiful park was designed and built.
The cruise ship was still there as if accompanying me on my way and alluding to this event.
The views of the palm grove were equally beautiful even under the slowly dissipating clouds.
It was in the 20th century when, after the harbour and the docks had grown enormously, large cruise ships were allowed to enter and we can see the whole place as it is today. An absolute beauty that took 150 years of progress.
I always enjoy this walk, but on this occasion it was very enlightening, as well as enjoying the views and of course the cruise ship.
The people on board were looking towards the promenade.
I soon realised that this one was almost about to set sail and the sound of the horn was a mixture of nostalgic and exciting. Seeing it from afar was breathtaking.
The clouds were giving way to a beautiful blue sky.
I had never really seen it sail, sideways, to get away from the harbour like that and then turn around and leave.
It is a process that I stayed to watch sitting on one of the benches because it was worth doing.
Also sitting there I could see that in front of me, there was a ship with an Argentinean flag, it brought back memories of where I was born.
Once the cruise ship had left I decided to complete the walk with a bit of colour at the market on the quay.
Some beautiful scarves with cat and owl motifs together.
These key rings are really picturesque and of the most varied models.
A place well known for its name and its symbolic guitar. It is very beautiful and can be seen from far away.
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I could not finish the tour without visiting the port chapel again. It is very small but beautiful.
The sun had already risen and illuminated it completely.
On one side of the chapel, both up the stairs and down the stairs, there are signs on the door explaining its historical importance.
People still throw coins into its water fountain to make wishes.
And of course this tour deserved to end with a delicious cup of café con leche malagueño.
Thank you all for joining me in this great event. Best regards to all of you and see you next time.
Amonet.
Miniature and separators created by me in Photoshop.
Used translator Deepl.com free version.
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