Traveling & Tango in Southern Spain

For years, friends have mentioned how fantastic southern Spain is, the people, the food, and the beach lifestyle. Subsequently, when planning this year’s travels, we decided it was an auspicious time to visit, as we planned on living in Valencia. The cities we chose to visit are Malaga, Granada, Seville, Cadiz, and Cordoba.

Flying directly from Buenos Aires to Madrid with a 2-hour layover, then onward to Madrid, wreaks havoc on your body and sleep.

As soon as we could check into the Malaga apartment, we did so and finally were able to collapse on the bed and take an overdue nap. Refreshed, we explored the city first, finding an excellent small cafe with coffee and food. The day’s special was chicken tacos and a salad. Tasted fresh.

Traveling

Previously, we had contacted a Facebook group about tango in Malaga and received a message inviting us to the milonga on Saturday. Meanwhile, we explored the city that afternoon, enjoying the sun’s warmth, and toured the city on a hop-on, hop-off bus, getting a sense of the city.

Discovering Malaga, it’s a beautiful city with an antique section in the downtown area and a few prime beach locations. It’s also a smaller and manageable city, as public transportation is inexpensive at 1.40€ a ride. Taxis, Uber, Cádify, and Bolt are other options. There are also Lime scooters and Yego Motorscooters.

Diavovering Malaga

We walked the city, exploring the old section and stopping for a coffee and some tapas later in the day. Visiting museums and beaches, and walking extensively in the city day and night.

Malaga is a safe city, lots of Guardia [police] walking around, on bicycles, on horses, on motorcycles, and in cars. But like any city, it is essential to remember to be aware of where you are.

We found the milonga, La Llaves de Tango, enchanting as it was held in a small space. Our host Gianni and his partner Paula were celebrating the 9th anniversary of their milonga on the Saturday night we attended. The milonga started at 21, and we arrived a bit later. The DJ, Paula, played mainly some old Tango orchestras from the 20s and 30s. We danced on the wooden floor, mingling with local dancers and foreign visitors.

Later in the evening, to celebrate, there was a giant anniversary cake shared by all with a bit of bubbly.

The milonga ended at 23.30.

A few people we met informed us that there was another milonga in Marbella, a town south of Malaga. Still, as appealing as it sounded, we could not go, as we would be leaving Malaga for Granada.

A few days later, we left by train for Granada. This experience was repeated from the previous year, as we didn’t buy advance tickets to visit the Alhambra.

This year, I bought tickets in February for our time in May. Really glad I did this, because this spectacular historical space is totally booked months in advance. We could tour the Nasrids Palace both during the day, and this experience was even more magical at night, as only 300 people are admitted versus the 8000 per day.

A Lesson Learned

Needless to say, it was a phenomenal experience.

Yes, we found tango in Granada and could attend a Wednesday night milonga at a famous local pub called La Tertulia. We could walk from our centrally located hotel in Old Town, but the weather at 2400 feet differs. It was much colder here than in Malaga.

We later learned that this no-host milonga at the Bar Tertulia has a tradition of no breaks in the music [similar to Zeytuna Milonga, Gurap Dinar is hosted in Istanbul]

Here we met Beguina and Rafa through a mutual friend. She was recommended as the person who is knowledgeable about the local tango scene
That evening, Rafa had invited Dj.

This space has a history of hosting poetry readings, music, and tango, and rumor is that the bar is owned by a man from Argentina.
The bar space is oblong, with slippery wooden floors replete with a red velvet divan on the left side. There is a small bar area in the middle with a few tables and chairs on the opposite side of the bar. The walls are covered in old photographs and posters. On the back wall sits a mural approximately 10 feet long, which portrays a seated group of people observing the room in somber ochre colors.

Quite an eccentric space to dance tango, as most people are there to meet a friend and drink. We danced tango and chatted with a few folks. It happened to be a different night of tango.

Up until now in our travels, we have experienced incredible food and warmer weather. It’s a fantastic combination, then add in the wonderful nature of the people in Andalucía, and all becomes enchanting.

Spain has many contrasts in its languages, people, and food. Andalucía [southern] is very different from Catalonia [northern] in the manner of their speech, their openness to strangers, and the food.

In Andalucía, the buses are filled with loud, cheerful conversations, while our experiences in Barcelona or Girona, both Catalan-speaking are often tranquil and never very loud.

And The Differences

Observing life in Malaga and Granada, people like to party, and do so with pride and in the style of these Andalucían cities. My palate is not yet knowledgeable enough about the food to define the taste differences. Always olives and bread with tomatoes.

We continue our exploration of Spain by train, and the next stop is Cadiz.

Abbraccio