Return to Malaga

Our bus trip from Granada near the Sierra Nevada mountains back to Malaga on the Med offered us some pretty dramatic scenery. I managed to get some shots from the moving bus. And just to say again that using buses in Spain is a very viable and inexpensive option, with an even more extensive network than trains. It seemed that there were only commuter, short-haul trains from Granada back to Malaga that would not take the bikes so we enjoyed another comfortable bus ride.

It was a bit peculiar returning to Malaga after our weeks of cycling in other parts of Andalucia. What felt so strange and unknown to us in early January on our arrival in Spain, now at the end of February, felt familiar and comfortable. After unwrapping our bikes from their garbage bag wrapping and adding the parts we had to remove for the bus trip, we followed the bike path down to the waterfront promenade and back to our old neighbourhood, Pedregalejo.

We were staying in a new apartment attached to the house of our host, Julia for our remaining 10 days in Spain but it was just down the street from our previous AirBnB and that host had referred us to Julia, her friend. So we had had already seen the apartment before leaving Malaga and Julia had even agreed to keep our bike boxes and big hockey bag for our panniers in her shed. Great to not have to find more bike boxes for the flight home. Julia welcomed us and showed us around, leaving us equipped with coffee, milk, wine, bread, cheese, fruit and other provisions. The apartment was built for her mother, now gone and was very spacious with a big private patio at the front and a small private courtyard at the back.

We settled in and headed down to our favourite little bar to toast the completion of our circular cycle in Andalucia. Nice to be back on the sea with the aroma of those sardines grilling on the wood fires on the beach. And it’s the perfect place to watch the sunset.

The next day we shopped for more provisions and then went for a hike up to a park in the hills above our neighbourhood, recommended by Julia. We walked up through residential streets and lovely houses.

We eventually reached a park high above the Med where Julia told us you could still see the craters from the bombing of Malaga from the sea during the Spanish Civil War. And indeed you could. According to an article about the bombing of Malaga in SurEnglish:

“The Battle of Malaga, which began in Ronda on 3 February 1937, was an offensive carried out by the Nationalist and Italian forces during the Spanish Civil War. The assault was a combined effort to eradicate the Republicans' hold over the province of Malaga. The force of 15,000 Nationalist troops was commanded by the notorious Queipo de Llano. They were backed by nine mechanised Italian battalions of around 10,000 soldiers. On 3 February, the pro-Franco forces were met by heavy Republican resistance in Ronda, but the defensive efforts were quickly squashed. Arms and ammunition were short in Malaga, moral was very low and panic developed because of the fear of being cut off.

The Nationalist campaign to conquer Malaga continued at great speed and they soon reached the heights around the city. Nationalist troops infiltrated Malaga with artillery and tanks, while Italian and German aerial and marine forces bombed and devastated the city. Because the Republicans were unprepared for armoured warfare, the battle for Malaga was over in less than a week.

The city of Malaga was besieged and burning, forcing a general evacuation of civilians from the city. The Republican high command, which feared the consequences of a nationalist occupation, had already left. The fortunate fled in the few available cars, the rest on foot, and Republican sympathisers who were left behind were shot or imprisoned. The Italian military authorities are said to have been horrified by the number of executions that took place. Witness accounts claim that more than 4,000 Republicans were shot in the first week of the occupation.

Thousands of Republican refugees had attempted to flee Malaga along the coastal road, but Nationalist troops soon caught up with them. The refugees faced a 200km journey along the N340 in search of a safe refuge, while being pursued by Italian tanks, bombed by German aircraft and shelled by rebel Nationalist ships. The civilians were left defenceless and completely unprepared for the attacks. It is believed that between 3,000 and 5,000 citizens, who were mostly mothers carrying children, the old and the sick, were killed.”

Back down on the sea promenade, it was hard to believe this occurred a little over 87 years ago on perhaps a similar beautiful quiet spring day. Another example of the utter senselessness of war.