In the name of San Miguel

For most visitors to the Costa del Sol, Malaga begins with San Miguel. It is this name, written in large letters, that catches the eye at the airport. For most locals, San Miguel is gastronomically associated with beer. However, San Miguel is actually the result of the entrepreneurship of Spanish immigrants and their founding of a brewery in a neighbourhood of Manila named after the saint.

San Miguel only moved to Malaga in 1966, although this year marks the 135th anniversary of the San Miguel brand itself. The idea of opening the first brewery in Southeast Asia by Spanish entrepreneurs arose in 1885, and, in 1890, beer production began in the San Miguel district of Manila, which at that time was the Spanish capital of the Philippines.

A group of Spanish entrepreneurs led by Enrique María Barretto de Ycaza decided to open the first brewery under a Spanish Royal Charter that officially permitted the brewing of beer in the Philippines. It was an ambitious and quite brave idea because this alcoholic beverage was still practically unknown in all of Southeast Asia.

In 1890 the San Miguel district, a primarily middle-class residential area of the City of Manila, got its own brewery. In a marketing coup, La Fábrica de Cerveza San Miguel was inaugurated in the country on 29 September, the day of the feast of Archangel Michael (hence the beer name). Soon Pedro Pablo Roxas joined the business as managing partner and brought German brewmaster Ludwig Kiene as technical director.

Three decades later, San Miguel became the leader in the local market and eventually conquered Shanghai and Hong Kong. In 1898, the Philippines became a US colony, so in the early 20th century San Miguel beer was already exported to Hawaii and Guam as well as other islands throughout the Pacific. In 1953 San Miguel Brewery became a corporation, having grown into one of the Philippines' largest business conglomerates with core interests in alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, food and packaging.

As part of its overseas expansion, San Miguel moved into the Spanish market, setting up the company in the Catalan city of Lleida where since 1947 La Segarra SA (in collaboration with San Miguel Brewery) had been engaged in the production of malt for medicinal purposes.

In 1953 San Miguel Corporation ceded to the Catalan company the rights to exploit the brand in Europe and Africa, and four years later, La Segarra SA was renamed San Miguel España. Since then, the two ‘San Miguels’ have gone separate ways. The Spanish 'road' led to the Costa del Sol.

In the 60s Malaga was an unattractive city that was avoided by tourists and that was dreaming of being a cosmopolitan metropolis. Local industry was in decline and needed an impetus. In 1966 the city got what it was looking for after it was chosen as the location for San Miguel’s second production centre in Spain.

The brewery was built on an area of more than 60,000 square metres in a strategic location near the airport. Over time, San Miguel has become a major driver of growth and economic progress in the city.

Additionally, on 9 October 2017, the company announced the relocation of its headquarters from Catalonia to Malaga. Today the San Miguel brand is an integral part of Malaga's social and everyday life, playing an active role in supporting the city's sports teams and creating landmarks.