With its long coast bathed by the Mediterranean and its strategic proximity to the north of Africa, the history Malaga is one of repeated conquests and colonisation by peoples from other continents.

The first to arrive were the Phoenicians, who founded city-factories (Málaka). Later the Greeks came (the foundation of Mainaké in 700 BC) and afterwards, the Romans, under whom the city of Malaca reached its moment of maximum splendour.

After the Byzantines -starting in 552- came the Visigoths (Leovigildo conquered Malaga in the year 570) and finally the Arabs, who introduced new farming techniques and crops, previously unknown in the province.

The arrival of the Catholic Kings led to the conquest of the Malaga in 1487 and the end of the so-called Reconquest. In the following centuries the city entered into a period of crisis, worsened by major natural catastrophes, epidemics and bad harvests.

The city did not begin to recover until the 18th century, when economic activity was bolstered as a result of the creation of different cultural and scientific entities, such as the Sociedad de Amigos del País, Montepío de Viñeros, and Consulado del Mar.

Around the middle of the 19th century, Malaga experienced a great surge in its commercial and industrial activity with the creation of sugar refineries, textile factories, wineries, shipyards and the first blast furnaces.

Starting in the 1990's, the province of Malaga started to become famous internationally as the Costa del Sol, and at present is one of the main holiday destinations of the world.

malaga Car Hire

Malaga is Spain’s fifth largest city and the capital of the Costa del Sol as well as a major Mediterranean port. Malaga for centuries has been a popular destination for foreigners, as the names of many of the city’s districts and streets testify.

Malaga is the main city of the Costa del Sol, but is in many respects a world apart from the thriving tourist resorts on the rest of the coast. Its less cosmopolitan and very traditional.

Malaga has few foreign residents, the Guadalhorce Valley, north of the city is already a popular destination for foreign buyers, mainly residents, attracted to the area’s impressive natural beauty and relative tranquillity. This part of the Costa del Sol remains very andalusian and there isn’t a large environment.