Spain in-depth: Festivals
The Malaga fair
THE MALAGA FAIR
The Málaga Fair dates back to the fifteenth century when Málaga joined the Crown of Castilla in the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, who entered the city of Malaga the 19th of August after the reconquest. Since then the City Council set this date to commemorate the fact, and the Malaga fair is established as the big summer fair every August 15th.
Malaga Fair has a reputation for being very open and participatory, both national and international tourists, given the position of the city as the capital of tourism on the Costa del Sol, and the time of the celebration is when the beaches across the province are full of tourists enjoying the sunshine and the beach. That’s why the municipal transport company in Malaga not only covers special services fair metropolitan areas, but also enables more intercity buses to cover coastal villages.
The Malaga Fair has always been characterized by its two celebration zones, The Center Fair and the Feria del Real, which brought many problems to the City, as the Fair Center in the historic center of Malaga was so successful, with its streets covered with colorful awnings, festooned with lanterns, with booths, tapas bars and flamenco clubs, that promoted the singing and dancing were lengthened to long hours of the night to finish with a swim on the beach at dawn.
This forced to take restrictive measures to put a time limit to the Fair Centre, with the aim to shift the party at night to the fairgrounds in the Cortijo de Torres in the outskirts of the city, so that residents of the city center did not have to suffer through the day and night rampage. From there comes the change of name to the Day Fair and the Night Fair.
Regardless of where you enjoy the fair, the flamenco, with their traditional dances and songs from Malaga, “verdiales” and carriages and Andalusian horses with riders dressed in their best clothes, or malagueñas with their flamenco dresses that cheer us up day and night.
Do not forget that the fairs in Andalusia are closely linked to bullfighting, and the Feria de Malaga is no exception, so during this week of August are brought together the best swords of the moment in a unique setting such as the Malagueta square, a few meters from the Mediterranean Sea.
Already in the Night Fair of the Royal area, the Malaga Fair proudly carries the fact that their houses have free entry, to enjoy any kind of music and atmospheres, while concerts are offered in the Youth Hut or the Municipal Auditorium. All this alongside a space with the best amusement rides to entertain the kids and the adults.
But all is not fun and games in Málaga, as its historical and cultural legacy is full of architectural options as the XIV century castle overlooking the town from the top of Mount Gibralfaro watching over her Alcazaba, a palace, a tenth century Moorish fortress that is found next to a Roman theater where some of its stones and columns were obtained. A few meters away, the Gothic-Renaissance Cathedral (the Manquita, having not finished one of its two towers of the facade), or museums such as the Pablo Picasso, that was born in the city.
