Malaga - the capital of the Costa del Sol

You have probably heard of many port cities around the world, you may have heard of Malaga, it is a port city and can be found in Andalusia, in the South of Spain. The Costa del Sol is the coast where this city is located, hence it is a part of the Mediterranean Sea. Looking at the census of 2007, the population recorded was around 575,000. This city is enveloped within mountains with Malaga’s central city located at the back of the port.

There are 2 festivals that take place in Malaga which are very famous. They are the Fair of Malaga and The Holy Week. The inhabitants of Malaga prefer the celebration of the Malaga Fair to take place in August, because it is regarded as the regions hottest month. During this festival the streets of Malaga replicate the streets from Spanish history. The entire city becomes a symbol of Spanish culture and history with decorations all over the streets. The live flamenco shows fill the streets and the city is covered in sweet wine and tapas. The city comes to life with dancing and games, the whole city is filled with festivity.

The history of Malaga is quite interesting. The Phoenicians who are suspected to be from the Tyre region are said to have founded the city of Malaga. The name of the city Malaga is derived from the word Malaka which means salt in Phoenicians. This name was chosen because of all the salt water fish that can be found in the harbor. This is most probably the reason why they would have settled down in this area because of the abundant fish and other resources that were available in the area. In the 8th century this land was ruled over by the Muslims who were ruling over Spain at that point in time. This land became an important center of trade. The Costa del Sol is a splendid tourist spot.

Travelers who passed through this land left many historical records about Malaga being one of the most beautiful areas in the region. There is a lot of poetry that describes the beauty of the land and also many historical accounts claiming that the land has an abundant source of fruits and other food stuff that were used for trade with the other lands in the area. The pomegranates were said to have no equal in the world. This was also one of the cities where the Arabs ruled over for many year and it was because of the fertile lands of the area that the Arabs were reluctant to let go of the land. The Christians struggled for many years to get the Arabs out of the land and finally in the years of 1487 they took control of the area. This was five years before Granada fell.  In the year of 1704 the largest naval battle which was a part of the War of Spanish succession took place in the south sea of Malaga.

From the year of 1960 onwards, the economy of Malaga was boosted heavily because of the influx of tourists in the city. This helped the country to strengthen its economical backbone and has helped to tremendously develop the country.