The 23 best places to travel in Spain and Portugal in 2023
Recently everyone in Spain, and a good number of people beyond Spain, decided to move to Malaga. If you’re in doubt, bring it up at any dinner party in Madrid and you’ll soon discover someone who’s recently packed up and been to the Costa del Sol, or at least you’ll meet someone. one who dreams of it.
The phenomenon didn’t happen overnight, although the rise of digital nomads and remote working certainly helped. If you can work from anywhere, why not choose a place where the climate is pleasant, where you will be warmly welcomed and where the culinary offer will be excellent from the first bite.
If you’re not quite ready to move to Malaga, you can at least visit, or revisit, in 2023. In fact, judging by the results of the most recent Readers’ Choice Award of Conde Nast Traveler, we expect the city to be already included in the plans of many travelers. With its ideal size, neither too small nor too intimidating; nearly 3,000 hours of sunshine per year; the ease of getting there from other parts of Spain and Europe; its rich cultural offerings and pleasant surroundings, it is easy to understand the smiles on the faces of tourists and locals strolling along Calle Larios (the pedestrian shopping street), the inviting Pasaje de Chinitas and the waterfront of sea Palmeral de las Sorpresas.
Recent hotel openings provide travelers with a variety of options to choose from. In 2021, notable hotel additions included Only You Málaga and Soho Boutique Equitativa; in 2022, H10 Croma Málaga joined them. And other projects are in preparation. The best known of these is a huge development planned along the port of Malaga while others we are looking forward to – and which should open or reopen soon – are Cortijo La Reina (after a complete refurbishment and upgrade upgrade to the existing hotel), Le Privé, and a planned five-star hotel in the Jewish Quarter to be managed by Marugal, who also runs the Solecio Palace.
The list of additions to the dining scene will appeal to travelers who live to eat. In early 2022, chef Álvaro Saura and entrepreneur Zuzana Salamon opened Tasca Laska while Dani Carnero, who learned his trade from chefs such as Ferran Adriá and Martín Berasategui, opened his third project in Malaga, The Cosmo (after La Cosmopolita and Kaleja). Asturian chef Marcos Granda, who already has two restaurants in Marbella, Nintai and Skina, will land in Malaga in 2023, with In-Formal, a new culinary concept designed for the reinvented gastronomic experience in the El Corte Inglés department store.
Málaga is also preparing for a pivotal year linked to one of its most famous native sons, Pablo Picasso, with 2023 on the 50e anniversary of his death. During what has been dubbed the Year of Picasso, there will be 42 exhibitions covering the painter’s work across the world, including Malaga, where he was born.
The Casa Natal Picasso Museum will host several exhibitions: Bernardí Roig: El último rostro y La Afonía del Minotauro (“Bernardí Roig: The Last Portrait and the Silence of the Minotaur”) until May 28, 2023, The Edades of Pablo (“The Ages of Pablo”) from June 21 to October 1, 2023, and Picasso’s picture (“L’image de Picasso”) from October 18 to March 3, 2024. The Malaga Picasso Museum will be the host Picasso: Materia Y Cuerpo (“Picasso: media and organizations”) from May 9 to September 10, 2023, and Picasso’s Eco (“Echo of Picasso”) focused on the artistic legacy of the master. Other institutions in Malaga organize events, from conferences to musical performances, marking this milestone. Expect more announcements in the coming months.
In addition, the Teatro Soho CaixaBank, Antonio Banderas’ personal project in his city, is staging a production of divine spellproduced by Banderas himself and Emilio Aragón. Maria Casbas
