The Sunday that Alice was about to see 'Guernica' in Malaga

The Sunday that Alice was about to see 'Guernica' in Malaga

JAVIER LOPEZ Sunday, November 6, 2022, 1:59 p.m.

It is 9:28 in the morning and at the stop where Victoria Street loses its chaste name in favor of Plaza de la Merced, an orange butane bus stops like the neckbands and headphones that José Santacruz begins to distribute to the 25 tourists Americans who have just docked in the city. They have arrived aboard the 'Silver Dawn' and now they get off the vehicle with orderly parsimony while Circular 1 waits its turn to drop off and pick up passengers. «I came to Malaga ten years ago after traveling all over the world. I've made more than 50 'puddles'?», this tour guide proudly shares with half a century of visits behind him.

This morning's begins at Picasso's Birthplace, continues at the Roman Theatre, the Alcazaba, the Cathedral and Calle Larios, with the forecast of returning on board around one in the afternoon. «They have a very beautiful city? Really beautiful. We were here for the first time in 1998, but now we see it very changed?, offers Syrie Ortiz. Together with her, Jaime Ortiz comments: «We wanted to get to know the south of Spain. Years ago we were in Benalmádena for a few days, but now we wanted to see the capital?, offers this Miami-based Puerto Rican who, together with Syrie, has already passed through Barcelona, Valencia and Cartagena before landing in Malaga this first Sunday in November dressed in spring.

Avalanche of cruise ships this Sunday in Malaga: seven ships with capacity for more than 11,000 passengers dock at Puerto Pilar Martínez / Malaga

Because, as Manuel Alcántara wrote, "it's a morning to have a formal girlfriend" and Jaime and Syrie hold hands in the shade of Plaza de la Merced. "We want to see a place where we can buy a house and rent it to come three or four months... And here it could be..." Syrie drops, cajoling, on the other side of the sunglasses. The couple is part of the peaceful battalion of 11,340 cruise passengers who have landed this Sunday in the capital of Malaga aboard seven different boats. Some of them boarded several buses as soon as they disembarked heading east of the city; others got on various shuttles with diffuse destinations and, in the end, the diaspora left few scenes of foreign flood in the early hours of the morning.

After all, imagine for a moment that they take all the residents of Salares and put them on a boat. Then they do the same with all (all) the inhabitants of Atajate, Júzcar, Benadalid, Faraján, Parauta, Cartajima, Alpandeire, Pujerra, Alfarnatejo, Jimera de Líbar, Genalguacil, Árchez, Benalauría, Benarrabá, Serrato, Macharaviaya, Jubrique, Montecorto, Sedella, Cútar, Carratraca, Totalán, Igualeja, Canillas de Albaida and Algatocín. The complete census of 26 municipalities in the province with the latest data from the National Institute of Statistics in hand. Well, the cruise passengers disembarked this Sunday in the capital add up to a few more troops than all of the above, although they have been more than well distributed through the streets of the old town.

One of the busiest arteries is the secluded Calle Granada, where a group of tourists come down with pink stickers like the umbrella that serves as a beacon. The entourage comes across a couple who look like they're coming to a party. He wears tighter pants and a more pronounced neckline than her, a laser-cut beard and dyed blonde bangs, he takes off the coat that he has draped over his shoulders and confesses to his partner: «A few churritos and the envelope, okay? ». She nods and points out with her eyes the bouquet of guiris that comes to meet her, like someone showing a child the toy he was looking for in the store. Then the boy puts on his sunglasses as a headband, stands in the middle of the entourage and yells with enthusiasm: «Say good morning to Picasso for me!».

And the boy has a good eye, because right at the entrance to the Museo Picasso Málaga, that group of cruise passengers arrives, like others queuing to enter the Buenavista Palace. Next to the wooden gate, a guide with a 'Wind Star' badge takes a photograph of 'Guernica' and begins an explanation of several minutes about the canvas painted by Picasso in 1907. The guide stops at the dimensions of the painting, at the five weeks that the man from Malaga used to make the mural, in the meaning of some of his characters... «We are going to see it now!», shouts one of the listeners. "Nooo... It's in Madrid," clarifies the guide, who receives a resounding "Ooh!" of the group in response.

The question came from the mouth of Alice, a cruise passenger from Virginia (United States) who is now waiting to enter the museum in Malaga. «I had the illusion of seeing 'Guernica', but nothing happens either. They have told us that a reproduction of 'The Avignon Ladies' is inside and that is not bad either", offers this 68-year-old visitor, white hair and an easy smile who responds with self-confidence to the question about what she likes most is liking the city. «They take us everywhere, run, but I have loved the balconies, the buildings? And this sun! Let's see if we're lucky and try some 'tapas' (in Spanish) before we leave?, laughs Alice before waving her left hand goodbye.

Video.

It is several minutes past ten in the morning and Malaga lives up to its nickname of the city of a thousand taverns. Seafood tavern, Mexican tavern, Iberian tavern... The gastronomic offer unfolds before the arrival of visitors, but the open shops are in a clear minority. Just the 'souvenir' shops in the vicinity of the Cathedral, almost all run by shop assistants of South American origin. No one wants to speak for the report. Only a couple of them are encouraged, with the condition that neither their names nor the exact reference of the business they attend be published. We have a deal. Then they breathe a sigh of relief and offer: ?Cruise days are very noticeable, because sales always pick up a bit. Most of them are older people and they come looking for souvenirs for their grandchildren. Typical things here: t-shirts, bulls, t-shirts with bulls...».

His companion laughs at the occurrence. "The business has been much encouraged after what we live in the pandemic, but now we do notice that tourists ask more questions, look more at prices and think more about it before buying," says the clerk while looking at a group of tourists of Asian features that are portrayed with a selfie stick and the Cathedral as a backdrop. That group heads towards Molina Lario, Plaza de Uncibay and Calle Granada and, at the height of the La Princesa coffee shop, crosses paths with other cruise passengers who look carefully at the window while the guide details the recipe for the wine donuts.

The local trade recipe

"They are a delight," concludes the guide. But no one enters. On the other side of the counter, Mari Ángeles Guerrero attends to two regular customers. Soft bread, some chacina and some sweets to throw on Sunday. "Cruise days are always noticeable in sales, although those who most often buy are Latin American tourists, some French and, above all, national tourists," summarizes one of the few local merchants who has decided to raise the blind this cruise Sunday. "I open every day," shares with a half smile Mari Angeles, second generation of a workshop opened in 1937 and whose wind fritters, now that All Saints' Day has just passed, should be declared a Malagasy heritage site.

Mari Angeles continues the chatter and suddenly apologizes because there are people waiting. ?What do I put in it??, he asks the boy who waits patiently. ?A few typical sweets from here,? he replies with all the esses before adding: ?We are from Toledo, but we live in Madrid. We are doing the Mediterranean cruise and we have seen on the Internet that they sell some very good sweets here ». Then Mari Ángeles winks an eye as a sign of 'What was I saying to you?'

Then the tourist and his companion leave the store and as soon as they cross the threshold, carefully peel off the tape from one of the corners of white paper with blue letters, with the delicacy of a surgeon, take out the donut wrapped in sugar, take the first bite He closes his eyes for a second and lets out a little moo of pleasure as he disappears down the street.

TOPICS

TopicsMálaga (Province), Tourism, Cruises

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