Things to Do in Malaga

Sitting underneath the Alcazaba (fortified citadel), the Roman theater is Málaga’s oldest monument and was built during the reign of Emperor Augustus. It was at the cultural heart of the city for 300 years until the Moors began to plunder the stone to build the Alcazaba between the eighth and 11th centuries; Roman columns taken from the theater can clearly be seen in the Puerta de las Columnas (gate of the columns) at the entrance to the citadel. The theater was abandoned, buried and forgotten for centuries before finally being rediscovered in 1951 during a civic construction project.

After decades of restoration work, the theater stands proud once more; it measures 102 ft (31 m) across and 52 (16 m) in height; the stage, orchestra pit, entrance gateways and crescent-shaped, tiered auditorium – which seats 220 spectators – have all been carefully resurrected. It was re-opened in 2011 and entrance is through an Interpretation Center, which details the story of the theater’s long history and its rebirth through interactive displays. Pottery artifacts uncovered during excavation are also on display here. In summer the theater provides an atmospheric venue for a program of open-air concerts and plays.

The Puente Nuevo (New Bridge) is a major feat of 18th-century engineering uniting Ronda’s old and new towns over El Tajo Gorge, the sheer limestone ravine that descends to the craggy bed of the Guadalevín River 390 ft (120 m) below. Spanish architect José Martín de Aldehuela designed the bridge and construction began in 1759 but it was 42 years in the making. During that time, more than 50 workers were killed falling into the gorge.

The best photo opportunity and viewpoint across the gorge is bang in the middle of the Puente Nuevo – just don’t step back into the traffic. The chamber built into the bridge’s central arch below the road was once used as a jail and political prisoners were reputedly thrown out of the windows to meet a gory death on the rocks below. Today is has a more pacific role as a small museum detailing the history and construction of the bridge.

To the south of the Puente Nuevo lies the gleaming Moorish old town, a pueblo blanco (white town) known as Le Ciudad and crammed with labyrinthine cobbled streets, wrought-iron window grilles and balconies, sparkling whitewash and painted shutters. Here lie most of Ronda’s historic sites, including the Mondragón Palace and the Casa del Rey Moro. Over the bridge to the north is the new(er) town of El Mercadillo, Ronda’s modern commercial heart, with plenty of quality stores, tapas bars and the oldest bullring in Spain on Calle Virgen de la Paz, inaugurated in 1785.

Tivoli World is an amusement park and performance venue atop a hill in Benalmádena. The performances can be kind of tacky - there's a Wild West Show (yee-ha!) and can-canning soubrettes - but there's also flamenco dancing which, while it may not be anything close to authentic, can still be quite thrilling.

Picasso’s birthplace is located on the elegant Plaza de la Merced barely 200 yards (180 m) from the awesome Museo Picasso Malaga, which holds over 150 of his artworks. Standing at the end of Calle Alcazabilla, the sweeping square is dominated by an obelisk honoring General Torrijos, an aristocratic revolutionary who fought against French invasion of Spain and was publically executed here for his pains in 1831.

This bourgeois, tree-fringed piazza was once site of Málaga’s main produce market and is today lined with smart, shuttered and balconied townhouses, cafés and top-end restaurants. It lies at the very heart of the city and each night locals gather here to promenade and chat in the tapas bars. The last Sunday of the month sees Málaga’s main craft market held in the square, where local delicacies such as Serrano ham and tortilla are also on sale.

Perhaps surprisingly there is only a rather low-key statue dedicated to the world’s most famous artist in one corner of the square, but Picasso’s house is given over to the Museo Casa Natal (Picasso Birthplace Museum), which has three rooms on the first floor given over to his ceramics and drawings. The five-story mansion is also headquarters to the Fundación Picasso, which holds thousands of paintings, sculptures and drawings by Picasso and his contemporaries.