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Malaga on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain was Picasso’s birthplace and the city is rightly proud of its most famous son.
There’s a museum dedicated to the paintings and drawings he gave his family or kept for himself. And the latest exhibition, which runs to August 30th, is of his later sculptures.
The museum is housed in the 16th century Palace of Buenavista, right in the heart of the historic centre of the city, with the dramatic backdrop of the Alcazaba Fortress and Gibralfaro Castle close by.
Separate from the museum, a short distance away, is the Casa Natal (Picasso’s birthplace), which is also open to the public.
Advance bookings, with or without an English-speaking guide, can be made online at www.museopicassomalaga.org
And Luxique has the best available rates at two luxury hotels in Malaga – the rustic and traditional Cortijo Valverde and the contemporary Room Mate Larios.
Elsewhere in Spain, hotel workers on the Costa Blanca, which is particularly popular with British tourists, are threatening strike action over pay in August.
Unions say wage rates for chambermaids in the region, which includes Benidorm and Alicante, are the lowest in the country.
Spain is already suffering from a decline in British visitors because of the recession and the falling value of the pound. Tourism Minister Miguel Sebastian says he expects foreign tourist arrivals to drop by up to ten per cent this year.
by Andy Moreton
