Urban art that fills streets of Malaga province with colour

Alittle over a decade ago it was unthinkable that the white houses of many inland villages and small towns in Malaga province would be occupied by murals, but today you can take a tour of a number of places where this urban art fills the streets with colour.

The first town to start offering the walls of its buildings as empty canvas for artists was Estepona. The murals appeared especially around the old town, where the typical Andalusian style of the 'Garden of the Costa del Sol' has been filled in the last decade with the colour of dozens of murals that make up the tourist trail. Many of the paintings are surprisingly large and camouflage the buildings with a large dose of realism. There are over 60 paintings that make the route around Estepona an ideal tourist attraction at any time of year.

However where the existence of these murals is most striking is in the small villages of the Alto Genal in the mountains near Ronda. There, almost five years ago, a group of young local women got to work with their brushes and managed to fill part of the village with their works of art. The traditional whitewashed walls make the perfect canvas for these murals, many of which allude to culinary customs or local landscapes.

The latest place to join this trend is Igualeja, which is the most populous village in this part of the Serranía de Ronda, which is best known for the colours in autumn of what is known as the 'Bosque de Cobre' (copper forest). The village, which boasts the natural monument of the 'nacimiento' (source) of the Genal river, unveiled four large murals this summer, in which the link with agriculture, children and women are the main themes.

The paintings, which range between 12 to 17 metres in height, were created by José Enrique Ragel, known artistically as Bestror. This same artist has also left his mark on other villages in the Serranía, such as Montecorto and Jubrique.

Cortes de la Frontera also offers a trail of outdoor art. There, in the midst of the pandemic, people in the town started writing verses by different authors in many of its streets, squares and corners. But as well as poetry, there is also a good dose of art on its façades which received an important boost in spring. On 1 May, the number of murals increased as part of an initiative known as 'Colouring the Future', in which many young people from the village, but also from other parts of Malaga province, have become involved.

The art of mural painting, however, first arrived in the Serranía de Ronda in the village that over the last two decades has become an open-air museum, Genalguacil. There, among other artistic creations including sculptures, there are several murals that form part of the urban landscape.

There are other spectacular examples around the province such as those painted in Álora by the Malaga artist known as Lolan. He painted iconic views of this municipality in the Guadalhorce Valley, such as El Caminito del Rey and the Gaitanes gorge or the castle of Cerro de las Dos Torres, all on the same mural.

Other murals not to be missed in the province are those in Moclinejo, Gibralgalia, Estación de Cártama, Tolox, Coín, Alhaurín el Grande, Monda or Villanueva del Trabuco, among many others.

Back on the Costa del Sol, Estepona is not the only town with a large collection of murals; others include Sabinillas in Manilva, the districts of Soho, El Palo and Pedregalejo, in Malaga city, El Calvario in Torremolinos and El Boquetillo, in Fuengirola.