Museum of Malaga's restaurant with amazing views of the Alcazaba set to reopen with a 16-euro menu of the day

Although the Museum of Malaga's restaurant and cafeteria, set in the city's old tax offices building, only opened in mid-2018 they closed with the arrival of pandemic in March 2020. However, they wll soon reopen again once a tender is accepted to run the businesses. In order to convince the bidders, the museum authorities have considerably lowered the conditions of the annual rental fee for the premises and has established than an attractive menu of the day must be offer for diners, for the price of 16 euros.

The main change in the bidding specifications is the cut in the minimum annual amount to be paid for the use of the facilities, which has dropped from 24,482 euros in the 2022 call for tenders to one third in the current 2023 call for tenders: 7,034 euros. This is a very competitive price for the rent of both hospitality spaces, which also have elements of extra interest for the visitor: the cafeteria has a glass floor under which you can see the medieval city walls, on the top floor you can have lunch or dinner with views of the Alcazaba and its surroundings.

The service contract is for three years with a two-year extension clause in the event of agreement between the parties, which puts the total minimum fee at 21,102 and 35,170 euros, respectively. Interested companies and groups have until 17 November to submit their bids.

Access to the cafeteria will be free for anyone, via the Palmeras foyer, and free wi-fi will be available to customers. Breakfast, snacks, salads, sandwiches and hot and cold sandwiches, sweet and savoury cakes and pastries will be served, as well as low-calorie products, fair trade and alternatives to food intolerances. Opening hours will be from Tuesday to Saturday, from 9am to 9pm, while on Sundays and public holidays these will be reduced from 9am to 3pm. On Mondays, when the Museum of Malaga is closed, there will be no cafeteria or restaurant service.

The restaurant, La Terraza de la Aduana, which was managed for almost two years by the Granada group La Borraja and was quite successful thanks to its privileged views of Malaga, will reopen its 181-square-metre interior lounge and its 36-square-metre roof terrace where lunch and dinner were also served. It is not known whether the new bidder will rename this space. What the tender specifications do establish is that customers will be offered a daily set menu.

The restaurant will be open on the same days as the cafeteria (closed on Mondays), although its opening hours will be different, as it will be open from Tuesday to Saturday, from 12pm to 0.30am, while on Sundays and public holidays only meals will be served, from 9am to 4.30pm.

With the opening of the cafeteria and restaurant, the Museum of Malaga hopes to encourage traffic and attendance at the building which has archaeological artefacts and art galleries. Last year it received 155,222 visitors, which is higher than in 2019 before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.