Málaga Art

Blog and Photos by Alistair Watts

On my many walkabouts around Málaga you see many changes from one day to another.
Old buildings have their insides ripped apart leaving just the front and the sides left, so that the original face of the building isn´t tampered with.
Buildings that were once people´s homes in the old part of Málaga especially Calle Carretería, that have been converted into hostels for tourists looking
for a more adventurous holidays, older couples with money to spend and back packers that come into Málaga maybe to stay a few days or find their
feet in Málaga by doing a summer job or setting up their own little enterprise.

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Some of the buildings have been left perhaps as they ran out of money to carry on and are waiting for an investor; I believe if anyone has money and a dream then
Málaga is a wonderful city to invest in looking by the amount of people you see in the centre at all hours.
The bars and restaurants are hustling, there is something there to eat and drink for all tastebuds. Irish bars, English bars with language exchange, food from all over the world.
As you walk around and about the buildings I mentioned, some of them have been bricked off and whitewashed. This has provided canvases for many an artist. There is one that seems to have
done at least three, two near the famous bar in Málaga called Pimpi and the other in Calle Granada where I know of a nice bar that sells cheap beer that sadly the last time I
went by a couple of days ago has been white washed over.

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​Around the area called Soho between Avenida Alameda and the port area the barrio here is called Soho. This is a pedestrianised area that leads to either to the Plaza de la Marina or to beginning of
Muelle Uno. As you get towards the theatre here and take a left in most of the streets you will see countless street art by many an artist. Some cover entire sides of buildings and other are low down on street
level but are just as impacting as the larger masterpieces. Being the city where probably the most famous artist was born, Picasso, you can imagine what his thoughts would be.
He would be amazed at the talent and him himself would get up there and do his own thing if he was still alive today.

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​Sometimes change is good, you need to give a fresh look to some of a city.  But I think it is a huge shame when you have a wondrous building well over a century old and you convert it into something completely different, a big shame.
Like I said some of them are being restored to their old self but you can imagine the history each one has had, the people that have lived and worked in them. What used to be a huge store called Felix Saenz has been converted in apartments and just one shop below it, not far is another building from the same owner that they seem to be refurbishing. The Larios shopping area was once a factory for Larios Gin and had lots of land with gardens and
all that has been taken away. Just like the fantastic painting that some person did a year or so ago which has now vanished and can only be seen in the photos people too of it.

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Sadly this is the painting that isn´t there anymore!