Malaga History and Culture

Historical Malaga

Castillo de Gibralfaro Malaga

Malaga and the surrounding areas have been inhabited since prehistoric times, an affirmation that is clearly justified based on the evidence of pictorial remains, dolmens in Antequera, caves, such as La Pileta in Nerja, etc.

However, Malaga enters history with the arrival of the Phoenician navigators who landed on the coast, although there was possibly already an Iberian settlement.

In the 8th century, the Phoenicians founded a settlement, which they named Malaka, at the mouth of the River Guadalhorce. These Semitic traders then began a self-interested search for the natural wealth of the region, which led them to travel all over the area on a reconnaissance tour of the land and its people.

From these first contacts date a series of legends, true enigmas of our most remote past, of which the most notable are the myths regarding the Tartessians and the Greek colony known as Mainake.

Phoenicians, Punics and Iberians in Malaga

Malaga City and Harbour

Very close to Malaka, the Greeks founded a colony called Mainake, which was destroyed by the Carthaginians, who controlled the area until 206 B.C. It was possibly due to economic reasons that the seafaring Phoenicians established the numerous colonies that existed along the coastline, particularly the abundance of wood available for foundry furnaces, etc.

The activities carried out in these colonies included an important fishing industry, dedicated primarily to the production of purple fish die and salted fish and in fact they even coined money. Our territory marked the frontier between two worlds: the colonisers of the coast and the Iberians in the interior.

The second half of the 6th century constituted a transition period between the Phoenician and the Punic eras, and was when most of the Phoenician settlements on our coasts were abandoned. With Tiro por Nabucodonosor's invasion in 573, Carthage inherited the Phoenician trade. The Carthaginian Punics created a whole commercial empire in which the southern coast of Spain played a major role.

From the end of the 6th century to the next period, the civilisation inhabiting Malaga's territory were divided into two different groups: those who lived in the coastal area, the Libio-Phoenicians, and those who lived in the interior, which you could say were the natives, the Iberians, together with the Turdetanos. These settlements were rapidly taken over by the Romans at the beginning of the second century and the most important were transformed into true cities, with a certain degree of autonomy, but always under the firm control of the Romans.

The Roman Invasion and the New Territorial Organisation

Santuario de la Victoria

Towards the end of the 3rd century B.C., the Romans came to battle against the Carthaginians. The Roman victory brought stability to the country, with the whole of the area entering to form part of the Roman Empire.

The recently arrived conquerors unified the coastal populations with those of the interior under common Roman rule; many Italics settled in already existing cities, exploiting the natural resources and bringing with them a new language, Latin, and traditions and customs that were to change the lives of the local inhabitants.

During the years that followed the arrival of the Romans and the subsequent expulsion of the Carthaginians, the panorama of the region changed considerably. In the year 197 B.C., Hispania was theoretically divided into two provinces, with the territory in the region of Malaga, along with all the others in the south, integrated in the province of Hispania Ulterior.

The fact that the Romans settled in some areas contributed towards the rapid expansion of their concepts and ideas whilst, at the same time, producing social-economic diversification and differentiation. Evidently, all of this was reflected in the cities, although this new organisation did not entail any break with previous traditions.

Malaga During the Early Roman Empire

When the Republic fell and the new political system of the Empire was installed, the territories of Malaga, which had already been under Roman occupation for two centuries, were distributed administratively between the four juridical divisions that made up the province of Hispania Baetica, recently created by Augustus.

At the same time, new roadways and other older ones that had been improved made it easier to communicate and maintain contact with people from other areas. Malaga, together with other population centres in the region, grew and was given a new legal status. In the 1st century B.C., the city passed from a federated city to a municipality governed by Roman law. This was set out in the Lex Flavia Malacitana, enacted in the year 81, part of which was discovered in 1851 in the El Ejido district of the city. The Lex Flavia Malacitana was drawn up on five tablets, although only those with sections 51 and 69 have been found. The National Archaeological Museum in Madrid conserves the originals and there is a copy in the Malaga Town Hall Council Chamber.

The most important area of the Roman city was situated around the hills of the Alcazaba, where there was a triumphal arch, a Roman theatre and mosaics, the remains of which can still be seen today.

The variety of ethnic origins influenced social aspects, such as spiritual life and religious customs. As regards the economy, the wealth in the territory was generated mainly by agriculture in the inland areas, and the abundance of fish in the waters that bathed the coast. One of the most renowned products of Malaga was a fish sauce called garum.

The Late Roman Empire. Malaga Under the Dominium of the Byzantines and the Visigoths

Great changes occurred during the 3rd and 4th centuries that affected not only the economy and politics, but also the people's beliefs. Amongst these the most significant was the development of Christianity in the Malaga area.

The crisis that resulted from the fall of the Roman Empire weakened the traditional political-administrative structure that had governed life in Malaga for centuries. In this new situation, the area passed into the hands the Byzantines, and for a short period of time Malaga became the Byzantine capital of Spania, until the Visigoths expelled the Byzantines at the beginning of the 7th century.

Sights and Sounds in Malaga

Picasso Museum
Castillo de Gibralfaro and Alcazaba
Picasso's Birthplace