Malaga's historic Baños del Carmen restaurant returns to its origins

The El Balneario restaurant in Malaga's Pedregalejo district is opening a new chapter the owners describe as a "return to its origins, to its roots". In 2025, the restaurant had different management that targeted foreign customers with greater purchasing power - a model that emulated some well-known luxury restaurant brands in the Costa del Sol.

A year into this experiment, however, the owners noticed that this move has led to the alienation of their regular clientele and the loss of some well-established events. As a result, management changed at the beginning of the year and El Balneario is once again committed to recapturing the gastronomic and family-oriented concept that made the establishment a landmark in Malaga over the last decade.

The partners have decided to change course. Direct management of the establishment is now in the hands of José Luis Ramos and Damián Caneda. This change aims to reverse the trend of recent months, during which, according to Ramos, there was an attempt to transform the historic establishment into "something it is not and cannot be".

For this new phase, the restaurant has brought back two key figures from the major transformation that occurred when the current partners joined in September 2014. Antonio Baños returns to the management team, while Adolfo Jaime, a veteran chef from Malaga, will serve as an advisor to help revive the menu he created years ago.

"We want to restore the essence of the restaurant's cuisine. One of our first tasks has been to reconstruct Adolfo's recipe book, which was lost under the previous management," Ramos says. "It's about recovering the original signature that was key to the business's success."

The aim is to win back the customers who stopped visiting the restaurant in recent months. This also includes the return of events, charity gatherings and professional customers that have moved to other locations. Some of them have already begun returning to Baños del Carmen, such as the recent celebration of the Olivares foundation.

"The goal is to give the space back to the people of Malaga," Caneda says. "We want to focus on the positive, on this new chapter, and on becoming a place where everyone in Malaga can come," he states. The new proposal avoids labels of exclusivity to embrace its original nature. "We want to be a place for everyone, a family-friendly place, for the average person from Malaga, not an elitist establishment," Caneda says.

The new management has designed a concept where the cuisine is once again the absolute focus of the business, with a menu prioritising seafood and traditional recipes from the province. "We're returning to what we've always been: a seafood restaurant for families to enjoy," Caneda says.

The stars of the menu will be 'espetos' (skewered sardines), rice dishes and Adolfo's signature dishes, such as gazpachuelo, which will once again be a house specialty.

Antonio Baños, a beloved figure in the local hospitality industry, is returning to lead a team of approximately 50 permanent staff members. Their number will increase with the arrival of the peak summer season. This operational structure is prepared to accommodate over 300 seated diners per shift.

Furthermore, the space will regain its versatility for social events, weddings and charity gatherings. "This place, in addition to being a restaurant, has a sentimental component that needs to be managed carefully. It's not like opening a McDonald's. Someone from outside doesn't always understand what this means for Malaga," Caneda says.

Although the main focus is on the restaurant and its cuisine, El Balneario doesn't relinquish its status as a first-class viewpoint. Customers will once again be able to have a drink on the renovated rooftop terrace and enjoy the sunset over the Bay of Malaga. The space is currently open on weekends and will be open daily during the summer.

With this move, El Balneario closes a chapter during which it has been trying to reclaim the place it held for over a decade in a city that considers this corner its own: under the principles of respect for culinary tradition and with doors open to the people of Malaga.