Malaga full to bursting during long 'puente' holiday weekend

It was a day to take to the streets. So that's what Ana, María and Rosa did, three friends who celebrated their Christmas lunch last Saturday. They got on the tourist bus, went for a sweet wine at the Sabor a Málaga food fair stalls, then watched the light show in Calle Larios and ended the day by going out for dinner. That was the plan for these three Malagueñas, for many other residents of Malaga city, and for the visitors, both those from other parts of Spain and also those from other countries. Splendid sunshine, more than 20C in the sun, the visual attraction that Christmas offers, plus good food, the company of friends and family and the most important thing: days off wrapped around a weekend. This was the cocktail that filled the city centre of Malaga on Saturday and over the rest of the holiday to the point that there were moments of gridlock with the traffic, especially at midday on the access roads to the heart of the capital of the Costa del Sol and also in the early evening.

In the mornings people gathered in the city centre, taking the opportunity to get a headstart on their shopping for the upcoming Christmas meals. People like Aurelio Baeza, who was stocking up on prawns at a stall in Atarazanas: "I'm buying something that I know I'm going to need for the festive season. You have to make the most of it, because then prices always go up a bit." From Pescados El Ruina they said: "This year the customers are being braver because they are buying more and they don't seem to be asking so much about the prices." Then at Pulpos del Sur they added: "People come running - and fast, so no one can take their seafood off them."

But Atarazanas food market was not just for shopping. People also went there to eat, perhaps more than any other Saturday given the queues in front of the stalls. Tomi Núñez Parrilla and her friends, all from Ciudad Real, were there: "We've been told that these stalls are very good places to eat. We've all come for the 'puente' [the long weekend which included the 6 and 8 December public holidays] to see the lights. It's all beautiful and the weather is wonderful." Neither were they the only visitors from this province of Castile-La Mancha: Domingo Cano and his family also travelled from there, although they had decided to eat on the beach at a beach bar in La Malagueta, together with some brave people lying on the sand in their bathing costumes just over ten days before winter officially begins: "We came for the Hans Zimmer concert and we have taken the opportunity to spend the long weekend here. We didn't know Malaga and this is paradise. December and in short sleeves... those of us who come from the cold are grateful for it, although we know it's not normal." Ana González, 24, and her family were also in the city - in her case from Asturias - to enjoy the same musician, composer of soundtracks, who rarely performs on stage: "It's my birthday present", confessed the young woman. Her mother added that they are enjoying the capital of the Costa del Sol in this strange pre-Christmas period of over 20C.

The Asturians and the locals were delighted, but the most delighted were Audrey and her half dozen friends with whom she had come from Ireland to Malaga to celebrate birthdays and four decades of friendship. They were literally basking in the sun on a lively Muelle Uno, a typical sight throughout the year: "This place is fantastic. This weather is fabulous. It's cold and stormy in Ireland", they laughed, along with the crowd who strolled around in sleeveless tops, shorts and some even making use of a fan.

With so many people in the centre, as well as problems with road access, there were also problems finding a place to eat, especially in the most popular places. Queues at Casa Lola, for example, or at Los Mellizos. Rosa María Fernández and José Carlos Gutiérrez, from La Línea de la Concepción (Cadiz) were at the front of the queue for Casa Lola: "The city's Christmas lights caught our attention and we also came to see the old town, which we didn't know at all. We think it is beautiful, it has a lot of atmosphere." At Los Mellizos one of the waiters commented that the long weekend was going "really well" with much more business than on a normal Saturday due to the many people here having chosen Malaga to spend this holiday weekend.

There were also those who extended their aperitif at Antigua Casa de Guardia, such as Marí Carmen Pérez and her friends from Cordoba, for whom coming to Malaga on this long weekend has become a tradition for the past four years. Alongside them, in the streets surrounding this landmark locale, dozens of people with a glass of wine and a tapa in hand.

The downside to all this was expressed by two different couples who took advantage of the morning to go shopping, either out of necessity or to get ahead on gift shopping for the upcoming holidays. Mario Hernández and Esmeralda Coleto from Torremolinos told SUR: "We've come to pick up some packages and we're going to eat on the outskirts of Malaga, in Teatinos or thereabouts. There are too many people in the centre, it's saturated, you can't enjoy it at this time of year or at Easter." In the same vein, Cristóbal Barrionuevo and Toñi Gutiérrez, also from Malaga and laden with bags of gifts, complained: "We are looking for a place to eat, but there aren't any", as they stood two paces away from Los Mellizos. "Let's go and look in Soho", then they added: "You can't do what you used to do: go down into the centre to shop and then stay here to eat. There are too many people. It's saturated for the locals."

However, Paola Vivancos, who lives in Seville and was visiting the city to see her aunt, said that Malaga was better than Seville yesterday: "Here you can walk around, in Seville you can't put a matchstick between them. Besides, even during the day here you can see that it's Christmas because of the lights, which are also visible in the sun; in Seville you can't see them, although perhaps here we should advise that 'less is more', because everything is a bit over the top."

Locals and people from all over filled Malaga over the weekend. Yet no one could better define what has happened in the city and especially around these dates than Francisca Madrona and her friends. Her pals were in one queue, the one to get the typical chocolate with churros from Casa Aranda, while she was in another queue to wait for a table: "Christmas used to belong to the people of Malaga and now it belongs to everyone. It has its good side, because we share it, but also the bad side, which is that prices are going up in the bars in the centre." Mario Parras and his family had already enjoyed the delicacies of this typical and traditional snack bar: "chocolate is more appetising for the time of year than for the cold, because it is not cold", they said with some irony. They continued: "Malaga has made impressive progress in terms of people and entertainment." The Parras are from Torredelcampo (Jaen) and they know what they are talking about, because they have been coming to Malaga for 25 years: "It is a city to come to, you can tell they have fought for it."

Many people come to the city for the lights. The biggest spectacle is on Calle Larios. At the times it is scheduled, the area collapses. Literally. What a crush it was on Saturday for some women who were trapped in the crowd and needed to catch a bus back to their village. But while they were having a bad experience, there were other people around them, adults and children, dancing to the rhythm of the songs that enliven the light show or immortalising the event, and their presence there, on their mobile phones. "I had seen it many times on TV. But live it is spectacular. I'm speechless", said Alfonso Jiménez from a village in Huelva, visiting Malaga to celebrate a friend's birthday. In front of the crowds, the grandmother of Samuel and Manuel, two little ones who are in awe of Christmas, said: "There are a lot of us, but that's good; we make a living out of it here." Unaware of the business generated by these dates in the city, the children said: "It's quite nice." Their aunt Marina revealed what the children like most: the food stalls in the main park, especially the fried buñuelos with chocolate, candyfloss and bangers.

All too true, in that city park the smell of chocolate pervades the air and its soundtrack is the constant sound of the little ones, like the daughters of María Rivas, setting off their bangers as they make their way to the spectacle in the Jardín de la Concepción, walking among the people browsing all the Christmas stalls set up there to complete their nativity scenes and decorations for the home.

Just opposite is the Sabor a Málaga fair, which offered the chance to fill the store cupboard with typical food and drink from the province. "Visitors from outside the city buy a little something, but those from here usually do their shopping for Christmas; it is customary to do so", explained María Aldana, who was at the Quesos Santa María del Cerro stall. The Ramos sisters from El Palo were just some of the many locals who were carrying bags of bread, oil, potatoes, wine and cheese. "These are good products. You have to spend money here."