This Malaga and Nerja road trip post is Part 6 of my Spain road trip series – it started back here in Part 1 Barcelona – and I have just one more to go, Part 7!
We did this Málaga and Nerja road trip – with detours to Gibraltar and Torrox – two months before I fractured my left arm. Writing about it, however, has become a six-week sentence involving sickening self-pity, a thermoplastic wrist splint and painfully slow searches through old and semi-defunct hard drives.
I did eventually find some photographs from our 2009 visit to Nerja, as you will soon see.
(How did it happen? I slipped on our stairs at home and came down hard on my left arm. Verdict: fractured distal ulna into the wrist joint. Sentence: 6 weeks in a splint. For my final post on The House that Roy and Verne built, click here. You will even find a photo of the miscreant staircase.)
To Málaga via the Rock of Gibraltar
Stunning views across the Straits of Gibraltar are revealed as you climb out of the evocative gateway to Morocco, wonderful Tarifa. I took this pic from the bar cafetería at a lookout point about 6km north of Tarifa called El Mirador del Estrecho. Where we stopped, of course, for coffee. From here, the coast of Africa is only 14km away. And on a clear day, you can see across towards Ceuta.
The Rock of Gibraltar
If you want it to, the coastal A7 road from Tarifa takes you to La Linéa de Concepción, from which you enter Gibraltar and its famously strategic rock. Home to about 34,000 souls packed into less than seven square kilometres, Gibraltar has a chequered history involving Berbers, Phoenicians, Romans, Visigoths and Moors.
More recently, an Anglo-Dutch fleet captured Gibraltar from Spain in 1704, and it was ceded to Great Britain in perpetuity under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Today, it’s a British Overseas Territory with a self-governing parliament. And no, they won’t give it back to Spain.
It was weird to hear the BBC’s Radio Gibraltar for a couple of hours on the rental Skoda’s radio. Mostly commercials for aesthetic clinics (Botox, fillers, needling), real estate, and the usual exhortations to get the latest safe-and-effective jab.
We didn’t do it, but to visit the Rock properly would need to allow five or six hours; the better part of a day, really. You would park on the Spanish side at La Línea and walk across the border. They say that the border-side car park is only a few minutes’ walk from passport control.
Update: Since 15 July 2026, Gibraltar has applied Schengen entry requirements under its new arrangements with the EU. That means my valid Schengen visa – not my UK visa – would now be the relevant document for entering on my South African passport.
MÁLAGA, first stop on our Málaga and Nerja road trip
Though Roy and I flew into Málaga Airport in 2009, my brother-in-law Colin picked us up and took us straight to his and Dale’s house in Nerja. So this was effectively our first visit to the historic Andalusian port city and capital of the Costa del Sol.
(Two nights wasn’t nearly long enough to do Málaga any sort of justice, especially as we had plans to meet up with friends, as I’ll explain. Any Málaga and Nerja road trip deserves more time than we were able to give it.)
Italian for Lunch
Having arrived early, we were able to park right outside what turned out to be an excellent lunch spot: Restaurante Grano Puro Cucina Italiana (22 Compás de la Victoria). Fortunately, a Málaga and Nerja road trip is so naturally full of dining opportunities that you can serendipitously wing it. (For the exact opposite, check out my series of posts on crossing the Nullarbor Desert from Western Australia to Brisbane in 2022 – starting here.)
Málaga History
Founded by the Phoenicians in the 8th century BCE, the city is a blend of Roman, Moorish and Christian heritage, highlighted by the Alcazaba fortress, the Roman Theatre, and the Gibralfaro Castle.
With not much time for sightseeing, we ticked off the top few – the Roman Theatre, the Alcázar and the Cathedral – at least from the outside, just by walking from our comfortable two-bedroom apartment in Calle Cristo de la Epidemia down Calle Victoria into Centro.
Málaga Roman Theatre
Málaga Alcazaba
Málaga’s Alcazaba is a well-preserved 11th-century Moorish fort. It is located right next to the 1st-century Roman Theatre, an archaeological site that was only unearthed in 1951.
Málaga Cathedral
Above is Puerta de las Cadenas, one of the entrances to Málaga Cathedral.
Begun in the 16th Century and worked on over several centuries, Málaga Cathedral is famously unfinished. Hence the nickname La Manquita – the one-armed lady, referring to the fact that the south tower was never completed.
Below is the spectacular Palácio Episcopal de Málaga, 18th-century late Baroque and located on Plaza del Obispo, directly opposite the cathedral.
Tapas and Nightlife in Málaga
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this – the Centro Histórico, made up of street after pedestrianised street lined with bars and restaurants all thronged with diners and drinkers. And this, 7-10.30pm, was still early. Apparently, bars start to “become lively” around 11pm and the clubbing continues till sunrise.
Lily-livered
Way before lively hour, we found something to eat at Casa Lola (Calle Granada, 46) across from Los Gatos. Service was patchy, apparently because of a tech-related glitch. Neighbouring Aussies who had ordered before us and not been served, were mildly appalled at our choice of chicken liver tapas.
They seemed to think we were being pluckily adventurous on our hols. (Excuse the pun.)
I didn’t explain that we’ve been eating chicken livers all our lives. It’s probably the best part of the chicken! Except of course for its highly nutritious nuggets. (I order my chicken livers from the wonderful Dirty Clean Food, a local Perth WA purveyor of regeneratively farmed products.)
My mother would gently sauté the livers with butter, oil, garlic and onions in her early-1970s Sunbeam electric frying pan. Some years later, peri-peri chicken livers became a staple on South African restaurant menus, and they still are.
Kiwi House of Beer
Speaking of bars, our Kiwi friends Trish and Tony are the proud owners of a craft beer joint called Kiwi House of Beer – from Aotearoa to Andalusia, serving craft beer with Kiwi hospitality – at Calle Juan de Padilla, 24 in Málaga. Catching up with them was a highlight of this Málaga and Nerja road trip.
We know them from boating together on the canals of France. Click here and scroll right down to find us buying wine by the gallon in Buzet, together. And here for a 2024 lunch with this great couple at the fabulous Narbonne market; again, scroll down to the end of that post on Marseillan.
So, after an enormous G&T on one pavement, a draft vermut grifo clasico (draft vermouth) and tapas at another, and a generous glass of NZ red with Trish and Tony at their bar – I suppose I deserved that particular headache.
Lunch at El Rincón de Fernando
You have to book for Sunday lunch at this popular suburban restaurant at Calle Corregidor Francisco de Molina. El Rincón de Fernando is Trish and Tony’s favourite, and we soon discovered why. (We four were the only foreigners, by the way.)
Seriously, this was the best octopus ever. (If you plan on Sunday lunch there, you must book. I would recommend booking anyway.)
Oldest Bar in Málaga
Funny that we couldn’t find the time to step inside Málaga Cathedral, yet there was no question about seeking out Málaga’s oldest bar, Antigua Casa de Guardia (est. 1840) on the way home after lunch in the suburbs. (For a loop-dop, otherwise known as one for the road.) Conveniently for history buffs like ourselves, it is located right next to the Centro-Alameda station exit.
And only about a five-minute walk from the Cathedral. (Which, in our defence, was probably closed that Sunday.)
NERJA
About 25 years ago, my sister Dale and brother-in-law Colin bought a lovely holiday house in the pretty town of Nerja – famous for its spectacular caves, and just 65km from Málaga.
Detour to Torrox
If I remember correctly, Roy and I first came to Andalusia when we came to a friend’s holiday house in Torrox. Torrox Peubla, where we stayed, is a traditional white-washed village that clings to a precipitous hillside. Torrox Costa is its seaside sister.
This time, with an hour or two to spare before descending on la famiíia, we ducked off to revisit first the puebla and then the beach.
Torrox Puebla
Torrox Costa
Flashback to Nerja 2009
Looking back at old photos, I found these dating back to July 2009. Hard to believe it’s taken Roy and me 17 years to get back to Nerja, but I suspect it won’t be long before we’re back here again.
Coastal Walks in Nerja
In the cool of the morning, each of the five days we spent with Dale and Colin, and before the menfolk were up and doing, my sister took me on one of her regular walks. This time, we didn’t get to do the more challenging walk away from the coast, through the pine forests and up the mountain.
Walk 1
Our first walk was to the main road, into the old town of Nerja, down to the Balcón de Europa and back home. (My Oūra ring reflects 9.55km or 14,174 steps.)
Walk 2
Next morning, Dale and I followed the main road in the opposite direction to Torre de Maro, an ancient Moorish fortification point that looks down on Maro Beach. According to the Oūra app, just 6.22km or 10,071 steps. But much hillier. (You don’t get impressive calves like my sister’s from lazing around the pool.)
Full House
Annette & Peter, Kaela & Jamie
Speaking of mountain hiking, Colin’s sister and her husband, Annette and Peter (also Durbanites, like Dale, Colin and me), coincided with us for just a couple of days. Naturally, we’ve all known one another forever.
This super-fit couple were about to embark on a six or seven-day hike, carrying 7kg backpacks. Having pre-booked their accommodation, they set off early on the morning of Annette’s 67th birthday. I don’t know which impressed me more – the magnitude of the challenge, or managing to live out of such tiny luggage.
No sooner had Annette and Peter set off, than my god-daughter Kaela arrived with her friend and fellow-traveller Jamie to stay and play for three nights. So, we were back to a full complement of Durbanites.
Eating out in Nerja
Wondering what we ate during five days in Nerja? Same here… it all went by in a bit of a blur.
We had a barbecue at home one evening. I also remember dinner at one of Nerja’s seafront restaurants that served Roy a great pork knuckle, me an immaculate leg of suckling lamb, and mixed paella for everyone else. Plus a totally gratuitous flan to go with the Irish coffee. Another night saw us having dinner at Burriana beach.
Instead of another pallid pic of a commercial paella, here is the homemade mixed paella-for-two that I was moved to make in my own kitchen soon after we got home to WA. It was in fact a test-run before having our lovely neighbours Jackie and Clint over for a Spanish dinner – and I think that this first, smaller one was better than the one I subsequently did for the four of us.
Zara at El Ingenio
El Ingenio is a big and fancy shopping centre in Vélez-Málaga, located in the Torrox area. Dale and Colin needed to buy a new washing machine. More importantly, I needed to go clothes shopping, as it had been at least a week since my last Zara fix.
Next Up?
Having promised to return to Nerja before too long, we waved goodbye to the Archers and headed for the historic port city of Cartagena. See you there!
