Málaga

“ In Malaga, for me, life is a holiday in which there are no dullards and no bores; all the world is strong and young and full of health, and there is nothing to remind one of horrible things. Malaga, I know, is the most delightful place in Andalusia. ”

“ The blue sea lazily kisses the beach and fishing-boats bask on its bosom.
In Malaga, for me, there are dark churches, with massive, tall pillars; the light falls softly through the painted glass, regilding the golden woodwork, the angels and the saints and the bishops in their mitres. The air is heavy with incense, and women in mantillas kneel in the half-light, praying silently. Now and then I come across an old house with a fragment of Moorish work, reminding me that here again the Moors have left their mark.
And in Malaga, for me, the women are more lovely than in Seville ”

“ From El Colmenar the road is conducted nine miles along the spine of a narrow tortuous ridge, that divides the Gualmedina, or river of Malaga, from various streams flowing to the eastward, reaching, at last, a point where a splendid view is obtained of the rich vale of Malaga, encircled by the boldly outlined mountains of Mijas, Monda, and Casarabonela. The coup d’œil is truly magnificent; the bright city lies basking in the sun, on the margin of the Mediterranean, seemingly at the spectator’s feet; but eight miles of a continual descent have yet to be accomplished ere reaching it. ”

“ Sometimes, when looking back towards Malaga, nothing intercepts the view—the whole bay,—Malaga in its centre,—the Moorish ruins,—the cathedral, and the cultivated plain, are all spread below. At another point, only the city and the bay are seen, the mountains shutting out all the rest; while still higher up, even the city is hidden, and the sea appears to wash the base of the mountains. ”

“ The site of the city is excellent; its harbour is one of the best in the kingdom; and in importance it ranks next to Barcelona among the commercial centres of Spain. Its merchants are men of substance, and their villas are objects of beauty in suburbs that are naturally beautiful. But Malaga does not appeal to the heart of the visitor as does Cadiz or Córdova. The certain grandeur that one notes from a distance dwindles almost to vanishing point as one comes nearer; and when one plunges into the narrow, ill-kept, malodorous streets of the lower town, the delusion is dispelled altogether. ”

“ A Mild summer evening was resting on the shores of Malaga, awakening the guitar of many a merry singer among the ships in the harbor, and in the city houses, and in many an ornamental garden villa. Emulating the voices of the birds, the melodious tones greeted the refreshing coolness, and floated like perfumed exhalations from meadow and water, over the enchanting region. ”

“ The streets of Malaga always present an animated appearance. One never sees here that dead calm which pervades many of our northern cities in midsummer. At all hours of the day the air resounds with the sonorous voices of men and boys calling out whatever they may have to sell. ”

“ We found Malaga, in spite of its delicious climate, its bright sea, its gorgeous hills, and its Eastern gardens, a disagreeable place. The streets always smelt of fish,—raw fish, cooked fish, fresh fish, dried fish, stale fish. The common people are dirty and unpleasant, a mongrel race, half-gipsy, half-bandit, with an evil look. The pavements are filthy, and all the time of our stay a sirocco was blowing, so that we were choked with dust wherever we went. ”

“ The foreigner never forgets those piquant, mutines faces of Andalusia and those dreamy eyes of Malaga,--the black masses of Moorish hair and the blond glory of those graceful heads that trace their descent from Gothic demigods. ”

“ Then, favored by the 36 voluptuous air of spring, or broiling beneath the enervating heat of summer, are Granada, Córdova, and Málaga, where glory and shame, heroic virtue and unblushing vice, erudition and ignorance, Christianity and paganism were so blended that the past and present seem almost one. As if proud of their Moorish origin, these cities of southern Spain battle with time, and hold in fast embrace the shadows of departed grandeur. ”

“ We reached Malaga, at last, our horses sorely fagged. At the Fonda de la Alameda, a new and very elegant hotel, I found a bath and a good dinner, both welcome things to a tired traveller. The winter of Malaga is like spring in other lands and on that account it is much visited by invalids, especially English. It is a lively commercial town of about 80,000 inhabitants, and, if the present scheme of railroad communication with Madrid is carried out, must continue to increase in size and importance. ”

“ The city of Malaga, seen from the port, presents a pleasing appearance not wholly without grandeur. On the right is a high rocky mountain, upon the top of which and down one side, even to the plain, are the enormous blackened ruins of the castle of Gibralfaro, and on the lower slopes stands the cathedral towering majestically above all the surrounding buildings, lifting toward heaven, as an inspired poet might say, two beautiful towers and a very high belfry. ”

“ We were disappointed both in the town and in the accommodation afforded at the inn, for the place being much resorted to by the merchants of Malaga, we naturally looked forward to something above the common run of Spanish towns and Spanish posadas, whereas we found both the one and the other rather below par. The town is quite as dirty as Malaga, but, perhaps, somewhat more wholesome; for the filth with which the streets are strewed not being watered by a trickling stream, to keep it in a state of fermentation throughout the summer, is soon burnt up, and becomes innoxious. ”

“ Malaga was one of the most opulent cities of the Mediterranean. Her merchants had amassed great fortunes by commerce, and their personal property, so valuable and so likely to be concealed in the face of endless servitude, was a prize not to be lightly relinquished by Spanish rapacity. The priceless jewels worn by the Moorish women in rich and barbaric profusion were famous throughout Granada, and reports of their value and beauty had spread to the Castilian court. ”

“ I was not able to walk straight even to the cathedral, or from the cathedral to the castle of Gibralfaro, or to the other places, nor could I form an idea of the beauties of Malaga without seeing them double and unsteadily, as some spiteful person might suppose.
On our walk my friend talked to me about the famous Republican people of Malaga, who are every moment doing something on their own account. They are a very fiery people, but fickle and yet tractable, like all people who feel much and think little; and they act upon the impulse of passion rather than the strength of conviction. ”

“ Referring to the end of the [3] tenth century, this author wrote that “Almería is the key of profit and of all prosperity. Within her walls dwell cunning weavers who produce in quantities magnificent silken cloths inwoven with gold thread.” Other important centres of this trade and craft were Málaga, Baeza, Alicante, Seville, and Granada. Rassis wrote of Málaga: “She has a fertile territory, wherein is made the finest sirgo in the world. From here they trade in it with every part of Spain. Here too is made the finest of all linens, and that which the women best esteem.” ”

“ On the walls or in the line of shade beneath them stand rows of plants—roses, geraniums, heliotrope, and especially carnations. From here the street sellers fill their open stalls and baskets with the huge carnations of spring, the smaller early carnations coming chiefly from Málaga. And the carnations never look more beautiful than seen, dark red or pink or yellow, against these walls of glistening white; one is fain to call them by their German or “soft Spanish name”—Nelken, claveles. ”

“ The nature of the people is good on the whole, but superstition and passion have perverted them. And, above all, superstition is perhaps more firmly entrenched in Malaga than in any other city of Andalusia, by reason of the greater popular ignorance. Altogether, Malaga was the least Andalusian of the cities I had seen: even the very language has been174 corrupted, and they speak worse Spanish than at Cadiz, where, forsooth! they speak badly enough.
I was still at Malaga, but my imagination was far away among the streets of Granada and in the gardens of the Alhambra and the Generalife. ”

“ The train squirmed away through howling, arid mountains, abounding in tunnels and tumbled bottomless gorges; then descending headlong to the plain, landed me at the seaport in mid-afternoon. Even Malaga on the seashore suffers from the heat. Her Alameda was thick in dust as an Andalusian highway ”

“ There are no pictures in the cathedral, nor are there any worthy of notice in the other churches or convents of the city.
The state of society in Malaga, does not greatly differ from that of the other cities in the south of Spain; but there is one strange peculiarity in Malaga society, that cannot but forcibly strike a stranger: this is, the extraordinary familiarity of servants. I have frequently seen servants at table, join in conversation with the family: a female servant while receiving orders, always sits down in the company of her mistress ”

“ The society of Malaga is very changeable. During the constitutional frenzy, the principal inhabitants were extremely liberal in their entertainments, as well as in their ideas; were fond of bull-fights, dancing, singing, ponch y huevos, [126] and even, because it was English, of bottled porter. ”

“ From the clearness of its sky, and the beautiful sweep of its bay, Malaga has sometimes been compared with Naples. The climate is one of the mildest and most equable in Europe, the mean annual temperature being 66.7° Fahr. The principal railway inland gives access through Bobadilla to all parts of Spain, and a branch line along the coast to Vélez-Malaga was opened in 1908. ”

“ Then, living in a strange land, one loses all impression of its strangeness; it is only afterwards, in England, that one realises the charm and longs to return; and a hundred pictures rise to fill the mind with delight. Why can one not be strong enough to leave it at that and never tempt the fates again?
The wisest thing is to leave unvisited in every country some place that one wants very much to see. In Italy I have never been to Siena, and in Andalusia I have taken pains to avoid Malaga. ”

“ At length, the whole population of the city, comprehending every age and sex, was commanded to repair to the great courtyard of the alcazaba, which was overlooked on all sides by lofty ramparts garrisoned by the Spanish soldiery. To this place, the scene of many a Moorish triumph, where the spoil of the border foray had been often displayed, and which still might be emblazoned with the trophy of many a Christian banner, the people of Malaga now directed their steps. ”

“ Yet what must we think of an Englishman, who, relying for protection on the fear and respect which the mighty country to which he belongs everywhere inspires, visits a Spanish town in a state of revolution—as Malaga was—and, for the bringing about a particular object, adds to the ferment by appealing to already excited passions? ”

“ SEVERAL roads present themselves between Malaga and Granada, each (as the Dover-packet skippers of the olden time were wont to say of their vessels) possessing a peculiar claim to the traveller’s preference.
One is good, but very long; another is short, but very bad; a third is both circuitous and bad, but across a most interesting and picturesque country. We made choice of this last, which proceeds by way of Velez, Malaga, and Alhama. ”

“ These festive meetings were, on the return of absolutism, deemed vulgar, democratical, and illegitimate; and a more dull and gloomy city than Malaga, after the star of liberty had set, can hardly be imagined. I speak, of course, of the Spanish portion of the inhabitants only. The foreign merchants of the place have at all times been, and still continue to be, noted for hospitality.
Most of the leading men of the city have country houses, to which they retire with their families during the heat of summer. ”

“ On the 28th we got into the Straits of Gibraltar, but the wind heading us off the rock, we were obliged to bear away for Malaga. There we found the Essex and Philadelphia at anchor. On the 3d inst. we left Malaga, and arrived here in company with the Philadelphia and Essex on the 5th, and I expect to remain until Commodore Truxton arrives on the station.
While the ship lay at Malaga I had an opportunity of seeing every thing that could attract the eye of a stranger. The country round the city is extremely fertile, abounding with all the different kinds of fruit-trees. ”

“ Antequera and Ronda, in the interior of the country, belong to the basin of the Me­di­ter­ra­nean, for the one stands on the Guadalhorce, which enters the sea near Málaga, whilst the other occupies a position in the upper basin of the Guadiaro, which washes the foot of the hills of San Roque, to the north of Gibraltar. Antequera is one of the most ancient towns of Spain, and acts as an intermediary between Málaga and the valley of the Guadalquivir. ”

“ Returning to Gibraltar we take a coasting steamer along the shore of Spain eastward to Malaga, the city of raisins and sweet wine. It is commercially one of the most important cities of the country, and was once the capital of an independent state. It was a large and prosperous Phœnician metropolis centuries before the time of Christ upon earth. The older portions of the city have all the Moorish peculiarities of construction,—narrow streets, crooked passages, small barred windows, and heavy doors ”