Long-running Nerja festival set to return in 2026 after cancellation last year

The Nerja caves celebrated 66 years since opening to the public on Friday 12 June with the announcement that the annual Cueva de Nerja festival will return this summer.

The president of the Nerja Caves foundation and the Spanish government’s representative in Malaga, Javier Salas, confirmed that the organisation is preparing the 64th festival, which will return following a hiatus in 2025.

The Nerja Cave foundation has stated that it will unveil the line-up for this summer’s edition in the coming days. The festival will take place between mid-July and early August. This confirmation marks the return of one of the longest-running cultural events in the province of Malaga and in Spain, after the 2025 edition was cancelled due to issues arising from the tender process for its organisation.

Last summer, the foundation agreed not to hold the festival due to the impossibility of meeting the necessary deadlines, after one of the bidders lodged an administrative appeal that brought the process to a standstill. The organisation then announced that it would work on a new tender for the 2026–2030 period, with the aim of ushering in a phase of greater stability, quality and visibility for the event.

The company Pies Compañía Discográfica S.L. has been awarded the contract following a lengthy bureaucratic process that included an initial award to Mundo Management S.A., which was overturned following an appeal.

On 12 June 1960, the cave opened its doors to the world, just a year and five months after its discovery by five boys from Maro. That opening day also marked the birth of the festival, which began with a performance inside the cave by the French ballet company La Tour de Paris.

Throughout its history, the Cueva de Nerja festival has featured leading national and international figures, ranging from classical dance and flamenco to opera, symphonic music, pop and singer-songwriters. Among the names associated with the festival are Maya Plisetskaya, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yehudi Menuhin, Alfredo Kraus, José Carreras, Ainhoa Arteta, Montserrat Caballé, Antonio El Bailarín, Paco de Lucía, Miguel Poveda, Sara Baras, Pablo Alborán, Joan Manuel Serrat and Kiri Te Kanawa.

The return of the Festival de la Cueva also comes at a particularly delicate time for summer music programming in Nerja. In recent days, it has been announced that the Oh See! Nerja festival has been cancelled, followed by the entire programme for Solaris Nerja, both of which were planned for El Playazo beach. Poor ticket sales led to the cancellation on the concerts which included artists such as Chambao, Les Castizos, Claptone, Ginebras and Shego.

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