Town Center

In fact, the easternpart of the city is a long narrow strip of land boxed between sea and mountain.

The natural area of expansion is from the west of Malaga to the resulting broad plain betweenthe river and the Hoya de Malaga, where large areas have emerged throughout thetwentieth century.

Puerta del Mar The rural exodus, in the rest of Spain was producing wine since thelate 50s. They were supplanting orchards and the Vaquerías industrial ruins.

Theseareas were populated as working-class districts on a massive scale by youngpeople from the interior of the province or elsewhere in Andalusia,attracted by job opportunities related to tourism and the industrial boom.

The result was from poor urban planning that isbeing corrected gradually. At present, the modern and future Malaga sits there. Until well into the 90s,these areas had the typical crowd Corralon small houses that look at a galleryoverhanging around a courtyard or central square, with a well or a fountain inthe center, some still standing today. Some of these Corralon houses can beseen in the neighborhoods of El Perchel and La Trinidad.

Malaga Center andsuburbs Topographically Malagacould be defined in terms of a large city like an inverted with the riverGuadalmedina as the vertical axis still marking the only geographical divisionin the city.

There are three physical conditions that have marked the historyof the Malaga city, the Mediterranean Sea, the Guadalmedina River and the proximity of Montes de Malaga.

During the eighteenthand nineteenth centuries the bulk of what is now known as Historic Center,east of the river Guadalmedina, was established, the route however ischaracterized by the irregular inheritance of the Muslim era. Among its buildingsare mixed dwellings, some centuries old, (with varying degrees of preservation,many of them in ruins or in the process of restoration), and other nineteenth centurybuildings of more recent construction.

Carcer Vista Street in the center In the slums of the east, with the exception of the area around the Malagueta, thereare predominantly single-family homes, ranging from traditional fishermen’shouses on the street adjacent to the coast, to villas with gardens in theneighborhoods and the occasional Pedregalejo Limonar – The legacy of the Malagaindustrial bourgeoisie of the nineteenth century.

At the eastern end is the popular neighborhood of El Palo, an old enclave offishermen who have retained their unique flavor in spite of the urban growththat has suffered in the second half of the twentieth century. Paseo Marítimode El Palo retains many of its fishermen’s houses, taverns and atmosphere whilemaintaining the traditional image of Malagaprovincial and marinera.

To the west bank of the suburb was Guadalmedina urban and industrial area whereworkers, day laborers and other classes were usual residents, maintaining thissituation until well into the twentieth century, except in the district of ElPerchel, which remained an Arab suburb dating from a period before theReconquista.

La Concepcion Botanical Garden The main park is the Parque de Malaga, which has already been mentioned, in thecenter of town.

Beside this are the Jardines de Pedro Luis Alonso Gardens – PuertaOscura. In the suburbs, there are four botanical gardens that once formed part ofprivate villas and are now open to the public.

In the far north are the LaConcepcion Botanical Gardens; the gardens of the Finca San Jose in thesouthwest; and the historic Garden Retreat and the historic Garden Consul.

At present severalkilometers of coastline have been recovered and ambitious plans are beingcarried out to make urban districts such as Carretera de Cadiz and Cross Shrine(nearly 350,000 residents) into the most dynamic city, with plans including anunderground railway, financial skyscrapers, modern sports facilities, and auditoriums,but also excluding the traffic in the heart by creating a large pedestrian area,and so on.

To remedy the historical lack of greenareas in the west of the city during the 90s development began of a series ofpublic parks such as Park Huelin, North Park,the Park and Park West Mediterranean. Slightly older than these are theJardines de Picasso, located at Avenida de Andalucía.

In the eastern mountainous terrain are preserved tree masses, namely theGibralfaro Mount, Mount Victoria and Morlaco.Moreover, within the limits of the municipality are the Natural and the mouthof the Guadalhorce Parque Natural Montes de Malaga.