Municipality

Málaga is the provincial capital of the Costa del Sol. It separates the Costa Occidental from the Costa Oriental. Málaga was nominated in 2016 as a candidate for the title European Cultural City. (Editor/Photos/Video: mit – Source: Provincial Administration of Málaga, Wikipedia.es)

The first known settlement in Málaga was built around the 8th century BC by the Phoenicians and was located at the mouth of the Guadalhorce. It was called: Cerro del Villar. Scientists discovered the remains of the settlement in the 1960s and unearthed more artefacts by archaeological digs until 1987. For the Phoenicians, Malaka, as the provincial capital was then called, was an optimal place of production. Its proximity to Africa and different Mediterranean cities has allowed easy trading. This was recognized by the Romans a few centuries later.

Around 218 BC there was the second Punic war between Romans and Carthaginians (North Africans, who came from the capital city Carthage. They were called Phoenicians by the Romans). Carthage fell and the whole second Carthaginian empire passed into the Roman Empire. The Romans took over existing installations from the Phoenicians and started to built a city. Structures such as the Roman Theater are evidence of a former Roman existence in Málaga.

As early as 711 AD, the Moors under the Caliphate of Córdoba conquered Al-Ándalus (Andalusia) and thus Málaga. They established new and structured ways of working and pushed trade, agriculture and artisanal productions.

In 1487, Andalusia and the city of Málaga were reconquered by Catholic kings. These immediately began to transform the citizens into christian people.

The saddest part of Málaga's recent history took place in 1937, when Republicans fought against Franco's troops in the Spanish Civil War. Main venue of this battle was Málaga. The city was initially held by the Republicans but taken by the Franco troops within a few days. Nearly 100.000 people tried to flee across the coast road to Almería, as the eastern part of Spain was still held by the Republicans. During the escape, a between 3.000 and 5.000 people were shot by Franco's troops as well as German and Italian troops who cooperated with Franco.

After the death of Franco in 1975 and until 1982, the so-called Transición took place in Spain, in which Spain politically rearranged itself. The banned socialist party PSOE won the government elections and put the new government.

The city of Málaga mainly lives from tourism. The airport, which is about eight kilometers west of the city center, is the most important in Andalusia. Almost 20 million passengers are transported there every year – trend rising. Also very successful is the port of Málaga, through which more and more cruise tourists and merchandise are transported. With the Parqué Tecnológico (PTA) north of the city center Málaga has another economically significant source of income. More than 600 international IT and news media companies employ more than 16.770 people in the so-called Málaga Valley.

The climate in Málaga is mild and constant. Within the summer, from May to October, the temperatures rise up to 30 degrees and more by day while they never drop below 20 degrees at night. During the winter from October to May, the temperatures reach a daily value of about 18 to 22 degrees, while at night it could be cold by only ten degrees. All the year you do have a constant humidity. The water temperature rises from 23 to 26 degrees in the summer. In winter it hardly drops below 16 degrees. On average, there are 3.000 hours of sunshine per year.