Welcome to Malaga (Sept 2023)

The Accidental Tourist

By Marla Laine Brown:

I could feel an ever so slight breeze on this humid day as the café’s canopy shielded us from the setting sun. As we sat there sipping our evening coffees, we surveilled this little historic center of Málaga. Things are the same, yet different. I couldn’t quite place it. Maybe it was the tourists that drifted by as their guides directed them towards the Roman Theater while simultaneously pointing to the Alcazaba above. We used to be those people. But there is also a new police presence here and a larger homeless population than I remember. Perhaps I just never noticed. Where were all my beloved street performers?

As I shifted in my chair, we reminisced on how we first ended up in this Andalusian region of Spain. After all, this wasn’t our first visit to Costa del Sol when, on a whim, we eventually ended up here after walking on the Portuguese Camino. It was 2014, and we decided to cut our Camino short and travel east across España. We visited Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, and Málaga. For the life of me, I can’t remember why we chose Málaga, but it was a wonderful place before connecting with a group going to Morocco. We were spontaneous and had time before returning to our jobs.

We loved the city so much that we made a second visit in 2018 before eventually setting sail on a Mediterranean cruise. We had a charming apartment that was sunny and loud from the street noise below, but we didn’t mind much. We were out and about and did a day trip to the Caminito del Rey, a walkway on cliffs with deep canyons that once served as an access for hydroelectric workers. There was also a bicycle race “Vuelta de España“ running through town that year, which was rather exciting.

So it wasn’t without much thought that when I retired, we would return for an extended visit. But retirement came in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, putting not only our beloved city but the rest of the world on hold.

It’s now 2023, and the world has emerged from the pandemic. The ebb and flow of life has returned. At this moment, we’ve rented an apartment in Malaga’s historico centro and made a point to visit new sites and spend more time at the old ones.

Back at our café, we barely notice the chitter-chatter of foreign languages that surround us. It’s somehow oddly comforting. We’ve settled into a slower pace and remain unhurried by the restaurant staff. So for now, we sit contently, living like locals with our café con leches, and people-watch, knowing we were once an accidental tourist.