Malaga makes it into the Telegraph's top ten List of Cultural Destinations

The Telegraph, a British newspaper with a long tradition of reporting on the world's finest travel destinations, complied its own list of Spain's best cultural destinations at the end of 2014. There is seemingly no end to the number of accolades the Andalusia region in general and Malaga City in particular can pick up, for the august newspaper chose Malaga as one of the top ten cultural destinations in Spain and therefore in the world.

New Malaga Attractions

Malaga's existing art centres, such as the Picasso Museum or the Carmen Thyssen Museum for example, have attracted thousands of tourists over the last few years and changed Malaga from an expats' party town to a cultural Mecca in Europe. With the introduction of the soon to open Russian Museum and the Pompidou Centre in 2015, Malaga City will receive two more amazing attractions that will put the Spanish city on the map of thousands more travellers in the future.

The newspaper's travel experts may have included Malaga only in tenth position, but once the new cultural attractions are open to the public it is likely that Malaga will surge ahead of other Spanish destinations.

There is lots happening across the Malaga region, not just in Malaga City itself. Accessibility is one of the main factors. For those who live at the Costa del Sol it's easy to spontaneously go on a quick cultural trip to Malaga. There are easy motorway and train connections; coaches and trains leave several times a day for the capital of the Malaga Province from tourist resorts like Marbella for example.

The opening of the eagerly anticipated Pompidou Center, which will be housed in the waterfront cube in Muelle Uno, and the St Petersburg State Russian Museum collection that is due to open in late 2015 at the Tabacalera Building are just two of the reasons why Malaga Province is so much in the global cultural pages of newspapers.

Malaga Contemporary Art Scene

The reopening of Aduana Palace and the emergence of an exciting bohemian community in Malaga's Soho district where the Contemporary Art Centre is beginning to attract worldwide attention from artists and critics alike, are also responsible for the Malaga region's growing reputation as a cultural highlight in Europe.

Although the British newspaper is still putting cultural attractions like the Dali Triangle on the Costa Brava, Seville, Granada and the Mallorca Chopin Music Festival ahead of Malaga City's cultural attractions, their recent article showed that even conservative newspapers like The Telegraph can no longer ignore the appeal Malaga's contemporary art scene holds.

The article recommended that visitors join an official walking tour, the "We Love Malaga" tour, which includes many cultural highlights, and leads past some of the best examples of modern street art in the city. In the city it is possible to buy a small apartment for around 60,000 euros, which explains why so many international artists leave their homes and relocate to Malaga's Soho district.

The love of art and heritage is not just confined to Malaga City. Marbella at the Costa del Sol sports a surprising number of galleries and attracts a large number of art lovers every year to temporary exhibitions of works created by local artists. It's a good place to use as a base, not too far from the nightlife and cultural treasures of Malaga City, but still close enough to rural life and the countryside for those who like to enjoy a balanced lifestyle when they come to relocate to the Spanish Costas.

A two-bed apartment in Marbella or Fuengirola can cost anything between 159,000 euros and 250,000, depending on the property's age, size and proximity to golf courses or the seafront. In Malaga it is possible to find older 3-bed apartments with sea views for around 120,000 euros. Marbella may be more exclusive and more expensive than Malaga at present, but this may well change in the near future, with Malaga's emergence as a top ten cultural destination of the world.