Festivals are common and important events in Spain and the Andalusia people celebrate with passion. Almost every month of the year has a festival but definitely the Holy Week festival Semana Santa and two weeks later the April Fair, Feria de Abril, and the Feria de Malaga in August are the most popular.
Semana Santa has the town folk and tourists lining the streets to watch the procession of floats of religious significance. Each float is adorned with candles, lights, crystals, velvet and other elaborate fabrics. The sight is beautiful and the event a sombre, peaceful event. The processions include penitents wearing their white robes with pointy hats and carrying candles. The procession continues every night of holy week.
Two weeks later the Feria de Abril is held. This festival is loud with lots of drinking, flamenco dancing, castanet clicking and partying. It is sight for the eyes as the flamenco dancers wear colourful polka dresses and dance Andalucía’s traditional dance, Sevillanas. The festival also includes horse parades.
In May, the May Crosses is a festival held for Malaga’s patron saint. The Fiesta de San Juan is held between June 21 and June 24. The events purpose is to celebrate the arrival of the midsummer solstice and like all fiestas in Spain, involves street parties. The Fiesta de San Juan is a catholic celebration that makes the elements fire and water centre stage. The town folk light bonfires on the beaches and in the town squares and burn effigies of famous figures. Sometimes the town folk walk on the hot coals or jump over the bonfire when it has burned low.
The August fiesta is called the Feria de Malaga in August and continues for ten days and resembles a street party. September celebrates the patron saint Virgen de la Victoria in the Victoria Festival, and October the fiesta is held for Picasso.
Costa del Sol is the very popular coastal strip from Gibralta to Nerja, but the more famous strip is from Marbella to Nerja. The beaches and resorts in Costa del Sol are amongst the most famous in the world, and during the month of August many Spaniards also flock to the beach to escape the heat of the inland regions. The airport in Malaga is extremely busy, and is the largest in Spain as it can handle 10 million visitors.
The Mediterranean climate makes the towns on Costa del Sol pleasant all year round and if you enjoy relaxing on the beach in your deck chair, eating seafood for lunch, and snacking on tapas in the evening before a leisurely meal of pork or seafood, as you drink wine, then this is the holiday destination for you.
The most popular seaside towns are Marbella, Torremolinos, and Fuengirola. These towns are very built up but also have an old part that you can explore. Fuengirola has a castle from the 12th century.
Costa del Sol first came popular in the 1950s with the Hollywood set. Frequent visitors at that time were Marlon Brando, Sean Connery, Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra. The strip has a vibrant nightlight with many bars and restaurants, many open at midnight and stay open all night. There are numerous golf courses considered to be some of the best in the world, two casinos in case you want a flutter, and the racetrack (The Hipodromo).
The Pueblos Blancos, the small white washed villages influenced by the Moors, start on the coast line and extend inland in Andalusia. Three villages worth visiting are Casares, Manilua and Mijas. Come and see these towns, as they very different to the big towns in Costa del Sol, and be transferred back in time. The winding, cobblestone streets enchant you, and entice you to explore. These towns are located on the side of the mountains and offer breathtaking views of Andalusia. Many also have Roman ruins such as aqueducts and baths in their vicinity.
Malaga is the birthplace of Pablo Ruiz Picasso and he spent his early years here before moving onto Barcelona and Paris. Picasso was born on 25 October 1881 and died in the year 1973. Picasso was a student under his father in Corunna, where he studied fine arts, and then he continued his studies in the Barcelona School of Fine Arts.
Picasso is the first artist to be recognized for his works during his lifetime and he has had a major influence on all art movements during his years. His art was not only paintings and drawings, but also sculptures, ceramics and etchings. He was a remarkable artist, and produced 22,000 works of art. Picasso with George Braque is said to have jointly invented Cubism. Picasso’s piece called Les Demoiselles ď Avignon is referred to often, due to it’s impact at the time, and there after.
Picasso moved to Paris in the early 1900s and lived there the majority of his life. His paintings are often described by periods. An example is the Blue period, 1901-04, and the piece The Old Guitarist 1903.
The Museo Picasso is one of only three museums in the world specializing on Picasso’s art. The museum is located in Buenavista Palace, 8 San Agustin Street with architecture from the 16th century. The museum has 200 pieces of Picasso’s art and covers an area of 8,000 m2. Museo Picasso opened in October 2003 and was set up with the generosity of Picasso’s daughter in law Christine Ruiz-Picasso, the widow of his oldest child and his grandson Bernard Ruiz-Picasso. The donations from the family include from Christine Ruiz-Picasso 133 pieces of work: 14 paintings, 44 drawings, a sketchbook from the Royan series that has 36 drawings, 58 engravings, 9 sculptures and 7 ceramics. Bernard Ruiz-Picasso donated 22 pieces of work: 5 paintings, 2 drawings, 10 engravings and 5 ceramics.
