A Málaga Vacation and Hidden Gems

This summer going to Malaga made a lot of sense and was something we had been expecting. We decided to stop traveling independently for now and used the services of a travel agency. Preparing for the trip drained all our energy and frayed our nerves. As far as I understand our travel agency did not have the ability to book accommodations directly. Information was passed through a chain like a broken telephone game. It took about 5 days for information to travel from point A to point B and the return took the same amount of time. Booking something under these conditions was really a test. Here’s how the process went: the travel agency sent me a list of apartments. We selected one and communicated our choice, they sent a request, after 7–10 days, we received a response with the final price for those dates. We approved, they sent the confirmation, after some time, we learned that these apartments were already booked for our dates. This cycle repeated 3 times! There was nothing left to choose from… Everything we liked had been selected by others. And this time, we were choosing from apartments in the old part of Málaga. On the fourth try, we finally received confirmation, made the payment. In the meantime we received a link from the travel agency to pay a deposit for the apartments. We clicked on the link and… saw that different apartments had been reserved for us. There was a mix-up at some stage. While we had reserved Del Parque Flats Alamos, the reservation was actually made for Del Parque Flats Alamos Parrot.

I remember our mood at that moment… We would have to stay somewhere completely different and pay the price of the imposed choice. We couldn’t understand how such a reservation had occurred. And we got it. It turned out that both apartments had the same owner. We then started discussing the imposed apartments. We tried to determine their fees. They were the apartments we had paid for and out of goodwill, they might have booked something more expensive for us. So, a refund was necessary. But no, we were told we would pay the same amount! However, at the end of the month, we received a 100 Euro compensation for the mix-up. Although it was a small amount at least we received something.

Looking ahead the apartments were quite nice. The only issue was the ongoing road construction in that part of the old town. The street was closed and instead of the peaceful atmosphere of the old town, we saw construction and constant drilling noises from the windows… But we tried not to let these negative points overshadow our vacation; after all, we came here to fully explore the place, not just to stay in the apartments.

We dedicated the first day to adjusting to the new place, resting from the journey and getting to know the city. We chose Málaga because it was easier to reach interesting cities like Sevilla, Granada, Ronda and Córdoba from here. We planned trips with a guide to El Torcal Natural Park, Mijas and Setenil villages, Nerja caves and Marbella. In short we were planning a vacation so intense it would require another vacation to rest. So, we packed as much as physically possible into that one day, but that’s another story…

As for my impressions of Málaga, it’s a wonderful city. It felt like a golden middle ground between the chaos of the capital and the calm, isolated old towns. There were narrow streets, many cafes and souvenir shops, plenty of branded stores and shopping centers and in the evenings, you could observe the activity of tourists in the streets.

We dedicated our first trip to El Torcal Natural Park. The park is under UNESCO protection and is located in the southern part of the country, in the Málaga province, about 13 km from the city of Antequera. After the park we went to the town of Antequera and its dolmen complex. We didn’t spend much time in Antequera. Visiting the dolmens was important, but we walked around the town and took a few photos. The next day, we went to a town called Setenil. On the way, I started taking photos of the scenery: Setenil or more precisely Setenil de las Bodegas, reflects its rich history in its name: Setenil comes from the Latin septem nihil "seven times no" referring to the seven attempts by Christian rulers to reclaim the area from the Muslims. They succeeded in reclaiming Setenil on the seventh attempt. The town has a population of less than 3000, but Setenil is a tourist center with a few hotels and its own website. Málaga has a wonderful place – Alcazaba. Alcazaba is a type of city fortress that served as a ruler's residence. In this case: Málaga Alcazaba. It has Arabic origins: its foundation dates back to the 8th century, but the main construction was carried out in the 11th century.