The Road from Santiago

  My father in law declared I was the only Englishman never to have been to Spain. The Spain all the others had gone to could be represented by Torremolinos. So we will put that wrong right. A place so famous it appeared in a Monty Python sketch. Repeat after me - in an Eric Idle sort of way, ‘Torremolinos! Torremolinos!’ The windmills which gave the town its name were built about 1300 - and the defensive tower came from the same time. This was a bit useful as North African raiders continued to bother the area till the 18th century, when the Anglo-Dutch took over and almost completely destroyed the place. Apparently British visitors started turning up from 1928. In the 50s the celebs joined them. Just people as Ava Gardener, Orson Welles and Frank Sinatra could be found as could, from 1959, the Art Deco Hotel Pez Espada. The 60s saw the growth of mass tourism, worthy of a Python reference. The housing stock is an odd mix of the new and the now, oldish. We will pass a Burger Kin...

  We are at the bottom of Malaga airport.  Where do you build an airport? Near a swampy barren gap in all the hills.  What do you then build.  Well, we have an array of houses that don’t mind engine noise and municipal buildings.  Other sorts are slowly encroaching as the demand for space and the growth of car ownership changes things.  There is an Ikea.  We won’t be going.  The Paraje natural del Guadalhorce is the delta which we will cross. 121 people have reviewed it.  An hour ago JuanMa wrote ‘A very beautiful walk, with native birds and animals…!!’.  Three months ago Caimare wrote ‘Guadalhorce Park is a delightful surprise if you love nature and need a break from the city. Located at the mouth of the Guadalhorce River, very close to the airport, it's a protected natural area that serves as a bird sanctuary. The best thing about the park is its tranquility. You can stroll along the paths through lagoons and vegetation, spot a variety...

  We are heading out of town. This will be achieved by heading out to the sea and then along the coast.  Slowly the city will disappear and we will get to the Guadahorce and turn inland to cross it. Amongst the great and the good who have come from Malaga are Pablo Picasso, Antonio Banderas and Luis Bolin.  Solomon ibn Gabirol, poet and philosopher, was born about 1021. Prime Minister Antonio Canovas del Castillo in 1828 and flamenco guitarist Pepe Romero in 1944. Down we go, along the Alameda de Colon to the Monumento de Manuel Aguston Heredia.  He is not the Marques de Heredia - despite what Google says. He was born in Rabanera de Cameros but moved to Malaga when he was 15. Apparently he traded nuts, wine and graphite ore from Gibraltar during the Napoleonic Wars. He got involved in diverse industrial projects in the 20s - especially iron related stuff.  By 1840 he was the leading ironman in Spain, owned two soap factories and 18 merchant ships. In 1844 72% of...