New lease of life for historic El Caracol café bar in Malaga
The new owner of the city eatery that was famous for its breakfasts and churros is making some changes and offering extended opening hours from 5.30am
Malaga's historic neighbourhood La Victoria smells of pastries and churros once again with the reopening of café El Caracol, after only two months of closure due to the retirement of its previous owners. Under new management, the popular establishment located on Calle Cristo de la Epidemia has started serving breakfasts and tapas again.
The new owner is Ronda-native Gema Vázquez. A regular customer of the café, she expressed her interest in buying it when she learnt that Luis - the former owner - was retiring. "I was very sad to see a business with so much history go and that's why I decided to take the plunge," she said.
Before making the leap, she was working at the Robles butcher's shop, but she quickly changed direction, aware of how beloved the old café is. The essence of the original establishment is what inspired her, although she and her team have implemented some changes to leave their own mark.
As before, breakfast is the main attraction at El Caracol. The café opens at 5.30am and specialises in churros, although it also offers various toasts and sandwiches with typical bread from Malaga province. One of the changes is the extension of the working hours - the establishment now closes at 3pm in order to be able to offer homemade tapas, both hot and cold.
In honour of her birthplace, Gema has also incorporated products from the Serranía de Ronda. Customers can choose whether they'd like to eat them at the café or take them away. Among the products offered, there are Iberian cured meats, hams, cheeses, oils and wines.
The new El Caracol has undergone a major interior refurbishment: appliances, flooring and furniture. The façade, however, remains unchanged, with its striking Andalusian tiles at the entrance and the name of the establishment on the awning.
Since 1929
El Caracol has been in operation since 1929 and it is the oldest remaining café in the neighbourhood. Initially, it specialised in snails and even had its own farm in an inner yard. Since 1970, it has been operating as a café specialising in churros.
The establishment was opened by Francisco Rodríguez Merino. After him came José Arza de Castro - grandfather of former Malaga regional minister Magdalena Álvarez. The Fernández family, who currently run different establishments in the city, such as bar Nerva or Araboka, ran it from 1954 until June of this year.
Gema is confident that she will gradually recover all the customers that the business used to have and even reach more by incorporating tapas. "There are already many who have returned and are congratulating us on the quality of what we do, but others still don't know about us and we have to reach them," she said.
