Holidays in Malaga!

December- January

We had a couple of weeks to really enjoy the leisurely beginning of the season here. In previous years, the restaurants and bars would already be packed with all-day family lunches and endless office parties where the employees/ revelers take turns being hunched outside on the street smoking. It was a bit less frenetic this year but we still had a cautiously excited air about us here. Sort of a fingers-crossed-and-don’t-look-too-eager anticipation of something that might be like a normal Christmas.

We had a fair number of cafe-sitting/ people-watching / waiter-gossiping afternoons at favorite hangout, Bouganvilla. We met with local buddies Anna, Juan and Laura, enjoyed Antonio Banderas in a production of Company at Teatro Soho, and watched the annual drawing of the Spanish Lottery on TV, a truly bizarre hours-long annual spectacle on the morning of December 22, in which orphans draw the numbers and sing the results. This has been going on since 1814. Hector won 10€ but I haven’t seen any of that yet. It’s a bit different from the US-style lotteries. Here, you purchase a portion of a number (a 100th costs 20€) so there are potentially 100 different people sharing in the grand prize. A few years ago, an entire village shared a number, and they all won, except for one local curmudgeon who had refused to go in. I suspect this story is some sort of rural Spanish parable but I hope it’s true and I encourage you to spread it around.

We then rented a car and drove up to stay with Al and Marc at Cortijo el Carligto, a return to our pre-covid Christmas routine. The weather was cold and sprinkly, with a fog hanging over La Maroma, their nearby mountain. It was very romantic and called for many glasses of red wine over the 4 days we were there. I think someone may have driven down the mountain for provisions but it certainly wasn’t me.

We were lucky to get de tako to make a lunch one day in between all their holiday gigs, and otherwise we spent a lot of time playing with Al and Marc’s new lab puppy, Ya-ya. Look at that face. Who’s a good girl?

Then, before New Years, Hector’s brother Fernando and wife Debbie came over to visit from Kentucky. We showed them our local hangouts and did a lot of walking around town. Day trip on the train to Cordoba to see the Mezquite (Grand Mosque) de Cordoba. It’s an amazing building. Construction first began in the 780’s by Abd Al-Rahman I, after the Moorish conquest of Al-Andalus (Andalusia). Successive Muslim rulers added on to it, making it one of the largest mosques in the world. Then, in the 1100’s it was inevitably re-dedicated as a Catholic Cathedral, and it remains one today. Mass is still held daily in the ornate Gothic nave, which sits smack dab in the center of the far more serene Islamic Mosque. Imagine strolling through the New York Public Library, then stumbling upon a rehearsal of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Public New Year’s celebrations were cancelled this year, so that meant it affected us not at all, but Fernando and Debbie had to fend for themselves in the party department. Then we all had a delicious New Years seafood lunch at our local beach restaurant, Chiringuito Oasis. It’s always nice when our visitors get to see Malaga during great weather and we had lots of sunshine.

The annual Kings Day Celebrations came and went without us really noticing them. The parade was held (see my post King’s Day!) on the evening of Jan 5 but the next morning there was no sign of it. It’s hard to socially distance when you’re crammed together watching a parade and Malagueños have been reluctant to risk any more lockdowns so I can’t imagine there was a huge turnout.

Continuing in the family mode, my niece Hari came down for a few days after her visit to Madrid, then nephew-in-law Patrick visited us, since he now lives in Madrid. It feels good to have family passing through.

We had heard about Estepona from our former landlords, Gary & Ralph, so we hopped on our local bus (Avanzabus.com 20€ rt) heading west and in 90 minutes we were there. It’s a small seaside community near Marbella, very popular with Scandinavian expats, which may explain why it is so clean and tidy. We saw no graffiti and for Spain, that’s saying something. They have a lovely seaside promenade. We stayed at the wonderful El Pilar Andalucía Hotel, situated right on the Plaza de las Flores. The town was pretty quiet, well… dead actually because it was right after all the Kings Day celebrations, but I’m not one to complain about that. For three days we strolled the town, had some good meals, walked along the coast and pondered what it would be like to live there.

Back home to Malaga, where we have a brief period of quiet streets and empty restaurants. But Carnaval is approaching, I can feel it coming. Malaga is not a city that shirks its celebratory duties.