Málaga Warnings and Dangers

This has not happened to me personally but to people I know. Always be alert when driving a hire car from Malaga airport. Theives have been operating by identifying hire cars & slashing their tyres. When the driver pulls over - they will offer to change the tyre & when nobodys looking will make off with any luggage they can get their hands on. I have heard of other similar scams such as if you stop at a petrol station, they will put a newspaper under the windscreen wipers, they wait for you to get out of the car to remove it and then they take your posessions. The bottom line here is to be aware when driving hire cars & if you have to pull over try & do so in a populated area.

A great disappointment to me was the plethera of trash, bottles, and plastic bags along the path leading up to Alcazaba and Gibralfaro. It is a turn off to see such a site, when some city worker should be cleaning up the mess daily, of better yet find the violators. It looks like it may a a place for late night drinking either by youth, or homeless people; or both. A sad site to such a nice path of color and flowers along the way. Even the trash containers were overflowing

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A long way up to the top, and only the persons in fairly good condition should try to climb the steep angle up 400 feet at 60 degrees. There are many switchbacks along the way, and it seems like it takes 1/2 day to get to the top and reach Gibralfaro Fortress. It does take about 1/2 to 3/4 hour in reality to go about 3/4 mile. I can imagine the difficulty in walking up on a hot summer day.
The alternative to get to the top is take local bus 35, or the red guided tour bus; but heh-you miss al the adventure of making the climb and some spectacular views while climbing. Be aware that much of the path is made of slick granite, and no doubt during rainy times, it would get especially slippery, because it was even on the dry day we took the path.

As in most european cities, you need to ensure that your valuables are kept safely in your grasp. More recently, I have heard of several unfortunate people who have been distracted by professional thieves and have lost their belongings.

I know this sounds awful but dont stop to help anyone unless you are 100% sure that they are genuinely in distress and there's nobody else around to 'take advantage' whilst you're paying attention to their play-acting' colleague.

Malaga seemed to have far more street musicians and general street vendors than anywhere else I visited! Which is OK sometimes - there were some reasonavbe street accordionists, a haunting horn player and a top class violinist.

Maybe the 'problem' is that there are fewer tourist to go around in Malaga than other places. I had to push away a very persistent 'shoe-shine' guy while eating my breakfast!

But the most aggressive of them all were the West African ladies selling their wares in the bars and restaurants. I am not saying the goods were poor, far from it, but I don't think any traveller wants to carry around a Sengalese leather elephant, or prancing horse, for the duration of their holiday. The ladies simply walked into bars, plonked all their stuff on your table and started arguing prices.

Funnily though, they did not like to bargain, they were perfectly capable of that themselves!! Without me saying a thing, the price of the leather elephant dropped from 35 euros to 13 euros over a 10 minute period. No, I don't want a leather elephant, thankyou, go away!! Being West African they spoke excellent French and also good English, so "No Comprendo" doesn't work, I'm afraid.

The big no-no is to take a photo of this event. My travelling companion took a furtive photo of me being bargained at. At this point the lady got very angry, seizing our guide book. So we kidnapped the elephant!! After a long tense stand-off, the lady returned with the book and stormed off.

OK, it is not polite to photograph Muslim women, so my friend should have known better. But these women simply do not accept 'no' as an answer. Watch out!!

Car Theft is very common in the Malaga province with Rental cars being a prime target. They do not usually take the cars which are mostly fitted with tracking devices but they will break in even if you have nothing of value on show.

Remove your back parcel shelf to show nothing is being carried. Thieves broke into my car when my laptop was in the boot, and it was left in a public place in the middleof the day!

At the entrance to the Malaga Cathedral, outside the gate, there are women who will smile and offer you a sprig of rosemary. They seem so sincere and sweet, but DON'T TAKE IT! They will grab your hand and won't let you go, and "read" your palm, and then absolutely demand money. It's very embarrassing and such a hassle.

I know that one of the high priorities on many peoples minds is to get in the Sun as fast as they can and for as long as they can to get a tan to be proud of when they return home. But.........

BEWARE OF THE SUN !

If you are fair skinned or even if not, USE Sun protection cream or lotion BEFORE hitting the beach. Even if just walking around town you can suffer from the Suns effects.

Buy and wear a Hat or Cap to protect the top of your head.

DO NOT sunbathe on the first day for more than TEN MINUTES ! I know that does not seem a lot of time but to avoid looking like a lobster and feeling itchy and uncomfortable, ten minutes only is recommended. Then gradually lengthen the time each day.

Remember that when in the Sea or Pool, the water acts like a mirror and reflects extra Ultraviolet back at you.

Seawater having a high salt concentration, has the same effect as putting salt on Pork Crackling ! So shower off as soon as you come out of the sea or saltwater swimming pool. By the way, beware of the little showers on the beach. They are intended for removing sand and are SALT water; so a shower in your apartment / hotel is better unless you are CERTAIN that the water is not salty!