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CULTURE

Everything you need to know about the Feria de Málaga

If you're in Andalusia this August, then you might want to visit one of Spain's biggest summer festivals - the Feria de Málaga. Here's everything you need to know, from when and where it takes place to what's on the programme this year.

Published: 8 August 2024 16:24 CEST
Updated: 17 August 2024 08:02 CEST
Everything you need to know about the Feria de Málaga
You can expect some of the traditional attire of many of Andalusia's 'ferias', but Málaga's fair is generally more laid back. Photo: Quino Al/Unsplash

When does it take place?

The Feria de Málaga or Málaga Fair takes place in 2024 from August 17th to the 24th, lasting for a total of seven days.

What does it celebrate?

It commemorates the reconquest of Spain, when the Catholic Monarchs captured the city of Málaga from the Moors on August 18th 1487.

The occasion has been celebrated in different ways since 1491.

Today, it’s one of Spain’s biggest celebrations taking place over the summer. The event features around 200 shows, concerts and performances scattered around the city in several different venues.

READ ALSO: Flamenco, horses and sherry: Jerez’s Feria del Caballo 

Where do the festival events happen?

There are two main areas it takes places – the old historic centre and the Real de la Feria, the fairground which sits to the west of the city centre.

These are further split up different areas and events, including the Municipal Auditorium, the Municipal Flamenco marquee, the Children’s Fair, the Verdiales marquee, the Málaga Popular Folklore Stage and the Equestrian Exhibition Centre.

The El Real Fairground offers the typical set up of many of Andalusia’s ferias, where various casetas or marquees are set up across a large area, creating almost a mini city with around 180 in total.

Casetas or marquees are set up with music and dancing. Photo: amata_es / Wikimedia Commons

What happens during the festival?

Inside the casetas at the fairground itself there’s typically a lot of flamenco music, people dressed up in traditional costumes, dancing, drinking and eating.

Even though they may look similar to flamenco, the dances are actually Sevillanas and Verdiales – traditional dances from the areas of Seville and the mountains of Málaga.

The partying goes on here until the very early hours of the morning and the line F bus will take people to and from there and the centre 24-hours a day.

El Real is also where the big fun fair is set up with temporary rides like rollercoasters, bumper cars and haunted houses, as well as games and stalls.

The other part of the festival includes all the concerts and shows taking place. This year famous performers will include José Mercé, Lucrecia, Toni Zenet, María Peláe, Chenoa, Carlos Baute and Adrián Martín

Around 95 percent of the artists taking part this year are from the Málaga province.

There is an actual fun fair at Málaga’s fair. Photo: Itelchan / Wikimedia Commons

Are there any highlights that I should look out for?

The whole feria will kick off with a big parade on August 16th at 8pm through the main streets in the centre and then into the historic quarter.

This will be followed by a drone display at 11.45pm and then a full firework display accompanied by music at midnight.

What food should I try while at the fair?

Throughout the next week will be a range of religious parades, partying, concerts and shows, as well as stalls selling typical dishes from the province.

These include Spanish tortilla, pringá (stewed meat) montaditos (small filled rolls), chorizo, ham and migas (fried flour or breadcrumbs).

You can find the full list of events, according to day and time in the official programme here.

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ANDALUSIA

Inspections, fines and demolitions: Spain’s Andalusia targets its 300,000 illegal homes

Andalusian authorities are increasing the rate of inspections on hundreds of thousands of properties built illegally and which don’t meet safety standards, resulting in fines of up to €180,000 fines or the bulldozers being brought out.

Published: 23 August 2024 13:06 CEST
Inspections, fines and demolitions: Spain's Andalusia targets its 300,000 illegal homes

For decades now, the southern Spanish region of Andalusia has had a serious problem with the proliferation of illegally built properties, erected on non-buildable land and without building licences.

There are countless small houses and shacks but also residential complexes and villas in the interior and along the region’s almost 1,000 kilometres of coastline that were built during a building bonanza in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s.

Developers and builders were fully aware that the constructions were illegal, but turned a blind eye to local authorities’ warnings, who were overwhelmed by the volume of properties popping up across the vast territory.

Over the past 20 years, the Andalusian government has rolled out increasingly strict regulations to put a stop to the practice. 

Many foreigners who unknowingly bought properties have been caught up in the crackdown, and some have had their homes demolished. Others find themselves in a legal limbo.

No one knows exactly how many illegal properties there are in Andalusia. The latest official figure from 2019 put the total at 327,000, other sources say it’s been reduced to 300,000.

In Marbella alone, there are meant to be 30,000 illegally built homes, mostly erected under the governance of their notorious former mayor Jesús Gil in the 1990s.

Currently, a war against illegal housing is being waged in Andalusia on several fronts: in the regional Junta government, in the town councils and also in the courts.

The latest legislation by the governing right-wing PP, the Law for the Promotion of Sustainability in Andalusia (also known as the LISTA), states that “the division and construction of plots on non-buildable land is an infraction classified as very serious. Any type of construction is prohibited under a penalty of up to €180,000”. 

“Previous governments were very permissive with illegal buildings and this led to the proliferation of housing on rural land, which caused enormous environmental damage to our territory,” Rocío Díaz, Andalusia’s Minister of Development, Land Management and Housing, told Spanish daily ABC.

The number of disciplinary measures executed by the regional government against illegal homes has reportedly increased twelve-fold since 2018. In June and July 2024 alone, 300 plots were cordoned off. 

In 2023, there were over fifty demolitions of illegal buildings in Seville, Granada, Jaén and Málaga alone.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office is looking to allow more demolitions but lacks the collaboration of many town councils.

The primary objective of the Junta currently is to stop the problem at the source by carrying out inspections of buildings that are under construction – 900 were carried out in 2022, 637 in 2023 and so far in 2024 almost 500.

Only last June, they halted the construction of an illegal mega residential complex being built on rural land in La Línea de la Concepción in Cádiz.

Many owners of illegally built homes do have the option of applying for an AFO certificate which normalises their status to an extent by classifying them in a special regime.

Furthermore, in some cases the offence of building or buying an illegal property in Andalusia will have prescribed by the time authorities come knocking, making it harder for any demolition to be carried out or fine to be handed out. 

Illegal property building continues to take place in Andalusia in 2024 despite the stringent regulations now in place, resulting in authorities putting most of the focus on newer irregular developments. 

Many still get away with it. More often than not, it’s local councils that ignore the regional rules and allow their neighbours or wealthy developers to go ahead with their construction plans. 

“In no case of crime is the criminal allowed to keep what he steals,” Ángel Núñez, chief prosecutor of Cádiz, told ABC.

“Why does the person who builds an illegal house get to keep it?”.

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