Málaga today
Short notes from my walks around Málaga and my adventures further afield. Something I came across, what was going on, and the address in case you want to see it yourself. Newest first.
Doger's woman with the red rose, and the rest of Lagunillas
Lagunillas is the barrio just behind my home, and I often wander these streets to see the art. The woman with the rose is by Doger, which is Jonathan Morillas. He's from Zaragoza, has been doing graffiti since 1995 and has been painting here since 2015. It's mostly realistic portraits of women, so she's very much his style.
There's more of his around if you look. A bearded portrait of Miguel Ángel Chamorro in Plaza de la Esperanza, a violinist on Calle Lagunillas, and some children with a dinosaur at Calle Pinillos 2.
Chamorro was a painter. In 2005 he started an association called Fantasía en Lagunillas and painted the walls with kids from the neighbourhood. He died in 2017.
Before that, a renewal plan in the late 1990s stalled and left half-demolished buildings and empty lots, and a lot of residents moved out.
Further back it was a working neighbourhood outside the old city walls. The name means little ponds, because clay was dug here for bricks and tiles and the pits filled with rain. In 1753 there were 19 potteries and 11 tile works.
Over in Soho the MAUS project started in 2013 and brought in big names like Obey and D*Face. Here the artists mostly volunteered, and often paid for their own paint.
If you want to walk it, start at Plaza de la Merced. There are Picasso reproductions on a house front as you go in. Then head to Calle Lagunillas 20 for Lalone's #SiempreFuerte portrait of Pablo Ráez from 2018, which is the biggest mural in the barrio.
After that there's Calle Gigantes for Back To School by Lalone and El Alfil, the cultural centre on Calle Vital Aza that's covered in mosaics and old bicycle parts, and Plaza de la Esperanza. That used to be a car park and it's now a basketball court where the barrio meets. It's about an hour all in.
Go in daylight. Morning light's good for photos, and some streets feel a bit rough after dark.
People live here, so keep your voice down and buy your coffee or tapas locally. The murals change and some get painted over, so don't be surprised if a few are gone when you get here.
If you're still working out a base, here's my guide on where to stay in Málaga.
Barrio de Lagunillas, 29012 Málaga
Read more: Unusual things to do in Málaga, Free things to do in Málaga, Where to stay in Málaga
The tents stay in Plaza de la Constitución after Maricarmen's death
Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old whose eviction in Madrid started the housing protests all over Spain, has died. She was taken to the Gregorio Marañón hospital on the day she was evicted, 23 September, from the flat she had lived in for about 70 years, and she died there on Wednesday 7 October.
I walked through Plaza de la Constitución tonight and the tents are still here. The camp has been up since 28 September. People are angry, and you can feel it in the square.
There's a sign with her name on it by the tents. The information point under the blue tarp is still running, with a box collecting money for the camp, and an orange poster calls a general strike for housing on 11 November.
The plaza is at the end of Calle Larios, so you can't really miss it if you're walking the old town. It was calm when I was there, people chatting and a dog wandering between the tents. If you're planning a trip around the strike date, keep an eye on my what's on in Málaga in November guide.
Plaza de la Constitución, 29015 Málaga
Read more: Málaga old town guide, What's on in Málaga in November
We caught a mouse in our Málaga flat. It was a shrew
The last thing I expected in the old town was a little animal crawling around on our floor. We caught it together, sure it was a mouse, and I was already worrying that there'd be a nest of babies somewhere and we'd need to call the exterminator.
When we looked at it properly, it didn't look like any mouse I've seen. Look at that long pointed snout and the tiny eyes. After some reading we realised it was a shrew.
Shrews aren't rodents. They eat insects, and from what we read they don't move in and breed in your walls the way mice do, so no exterminator needed.
This morning it came with us on Axel's walk, and we let it go in Plaza de la Merced, under the trees. Unfortunately there isn't much greenery in the old town, so that was the best we could do.
If you catch a "mouse" in Málaga, have a proper look at its face before you call anyone.
Plaza de la Merced, 29012 Málaga
Read more: Málaga on foot: a walking route, Málaga old town guide
Rain in Málaga, and how rare it really is
I took this by the church of San Felipe Neri, a couple of minutes' walk from Plaza de la Merced, just after today's rain. The cobbles were still shiny.
So how rare is a day like this? Málaga averages about 42 days a year with at least 1 mm of rain, according to Spain's weather agency AEMET. October usually brings around four of them. For most of the year, rain here is something you notice.
I stopped checking the weather forecast a long time ago. Here, the sun is pretty much a given, which is exactly why a wet day still feels like an event.
If you're here when it rains, watch your step on the marble cobblestones around the Cathedral and along Calle Larios. They get really slippery when wet. And if it sets in for the afternoon, I've put together what to do in Málaga when it rains.
Calle Guerrero 6, 29012 Málaga
Read more: What to do in Málaga when it rains, Málaga old town guide
LA Almazara near Ronda: honestly, I expected more
After four years living in Málaga, today was my first visit to LA Almazara, the olive oil mill outside Ronda designed by Philippe Starck. It opened in October 2024, and TIME put it on its World's Greatest Places list for 2025, so I went in with high hopes.
I bought the museum ticket for €15. It includes a tasting of two olive oils in the shop and access to the mirador, which is where I took this photo of the red cube and its steel bull's horn. The museum itself is small. We were through it in about fifteen minutes, and after that we felt there was nothing left to do.
There are bigger tickets. The guided Premium visit starts from €28 for about an hour and a half, with a guide, a walk through the working mill and a proper olive oil tasting with mollete bread. Wine tasting is only offered as an option on the top Exclusive visit, and the booking site doesn't show that price. I haven't done the official tasting myself, and I've heard from others who did the group tour of the mill that it was pretty boring too.
So would I drive all the way out there again just for this? Honestly, no, not unless I had something else planned nearby. Sorry to say it, but I was expecting more. If you're already spending a day in Ronda, it's on the A-367, the Ardales road just outside town, and the mirador does give you a great photo. Read where to park in Ronda before you head into the old town.
Carretera Ardales–Ronda A-367, km 39.5, 29400 Ronda, Málaga
Read more: Things to do in Ronda, The best month to visit Ronda
The chestnut stands are back in Málaga
The castañas asadas stands are out on the streets again. This one is El puesto de La Mama Nieves, at the foot of the Tribuna de los Pobres steps where Calle Carretería meets the river, with the roasting drums standing ready beside the cart and chestnuts piled high on top. For me, that can only mean one thing: autumn is almost here in southern Spain.
I love walking past these stands in the middle of winter and catching the smell of the smoke.
And here's my confession: I've never actually tried them. I never have cash on me, and they don't take cards.
So if you want a cone of roasted chestnuts while you're here this autumn or winter, keep a few euros in coins in your pocket.
Tribuna de los Pobres, Calle Carretería (corner of Avenida de la Rosaleda), 29008 Málaga
Read more: What's on in Málaga in October, What's on in Málaga in November
The burnt-out Ibis hotel by the river is nearly gone
The Ibis hotel on Pasillo de Guimbarda, the one right on the Guadalmedina riverbed, is almost gone. I took this from the riverbed this morning. The front with the ibis sign and the Grand Café is still standing, and the diggers are working through what's left behind it.
I live three blocks away. In May I saw the smoke, and we could smell it from our home.
The fire started in the early hours of 25 May in the café on the ground floor and spread into the hotel. Around 100 people were evacuated and nobody was hurt. It took weeks to put out completely. Firefighters only ended their watch on the site on 11 July.
Demolition started at the beginning of September and was planned to take about two months. If you stayed at the ibis Málaga Centro Ciudad, this was it, all 189 rooms.
If you're driving, the bus lane in the Pasillo de Guimbarda tunnel next to the hotel is closed while the work goes on. The car lane is open.
Pasillo de Guimbarda 5 (corner of Calle Cerrojo), 29007 Málaga
Read more: Where to stay in Málaga
Tents in Plaza de la Constitución: what's going on
If you're wondering about the tents in Plaza de la Constitución, it's a housing protest. People have been camping in the square since the evening of Monday 28 September, after a march through the centre ended there.
It's organised by the Sindicato de Inquilinas e Inquilinos, the tenants' union, whose red banner is up in the photo, together with the platform Un Techo por Derecho. The signs are about what people can afford to pay for a home. One on a tent says the banner is the square metres the writer can afford.
Organisers have said there's no end date and that they're deciding day by day.
The plaza is at the end of Calle Larios, so if you're walking the old town you'll almost certainly pass it.
Plaza de la Constitución, 29015 Málaga
Read more: Málaga old town guide
The queue at El Gato Negro for the Christmas lottery
El Gato Negro on Calle Granada is one of the most popular places in Málaga to buy lottery tickets. There's nearly always a little crowd outside.
It has been selling tickets in Málaga for over 100 years and has sold winning Christmas lottery tickets before. In Spain, a shop's luck counts for a lot.
From now until December the queues get longer. Everyone wants a décimo for the Christmas lottery, El Gordo, drawn on 22 December. A décimo is a tenth of a full ticket and costs €20. You don't pick your own numbers. You choose from the ones the shop has.
Families, friends, workmates and even the local bar often share tickets, so the whole office can win together.
The sign by the door gives the opening hours as Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 21:00.
Read more: Christmas in Málaga, Málaga old town guide