Malaga new and famous cruiser port harbor.

For every those lucky ones enough to live on the Costa del Sol in Andalucia, sooner or later your body clock will remind you it’s time for a holiday in pastures new. With the Port of Málaga on the doorstep, and any number of cruise ship departures to choose from, the world is your oyster. Way don’t take a one or two week of from the beaches and golf courses. Leave Marbella and Puerto Banus night life. Get away from the normal tourist places as Alhambra in Granada, La Giralda and Cathedral in Seville and Ronda.

Not surprisingly, Costa del Sol is doing a massive new investment in Malaga. Málaga is becoming an increasingly popular port of call for a plethora of luxury liners from around the globe, because Malaga is trying for the title of 2016 European Capital of Culture with many new museums, Pablo Picasso Museum, Brotherhoods Museum, Music Hall, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, the MIMMA (Malaga Interactive Music Museum), Flamenco Museum,The new AVE high speed train from Madrid for the Capital of Culture title. 

The extension of Malaga Harbor.

So much so, that just last month, on one day alone (15 May), it welcomed a record-breaking line-up of six legendary cruise ships – Navigator of the Seas, Artemis, Royal Clipper, Black Prince, Coral and Dalmacija – together bringing some 9,000 passengers to the provincial capital. Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, weighing in at a colossal 150,000 tones and 147 feet longer than the height of the Eiffel Tower, is as tall as a 21-storey building. Such is the enormity of this leviathan that when she sails into Málaga – as she did on her maiden voyage in 2004, and several times since - one almost wonders where on earth she will berth, despite the port being the second most important stop-over for cruise ships on the Iberian Peninsula.

Although it already boasts a flotation area of around 7,000 hectares, current plans for expansion mean the future for Málaga’s port looks bright indeed. So, if you thought that living and buying in Andalucia really couldn’t get any better, think again. The world of travel is about to open up in a way you perhaps never imagined possible. Forget flying, or driving from city to city, because with a gentle cruise to local Mediterranean destinations or beyond, you can relax and enjoy your holiday from the moment you step aboard. And unlike embarking in the UK or Northern Europe - where, as in John Masefield’s famous poem Cargoes, you could find yourself ‘Butting through The Channel in the mad March days’, and then facing the notoriously fickle weather of the Bay of Biscay – smooth sailing is virtually guaranteed.

The new Malaga port and passeo.

Plans for upgrading Málaga’s port aim to enhance not only the services for passengers travelling in and out of the city, but also for holidaymakers and residents already in the capital. A new marina will provide 650 berths for yachts and leisure boats of up to 15 metres in length; the construction of the El Palmeral de las Sorpresas will include a new passenger terminal, port museum (with original machinery of industrial and archaeological interest) and an educational centre with luxury properties on the top.

Building out Marina de la Farola, Malaga.

An additional yacht harbour to be known as Marina de la Farola will include a further 240 berths for craft up to 30 metres in length, as well as restaurants, shops and a car park. Malaga`s new passenger terminal at the Eastern Dock will improve access to and from the city centre, meaning that passengers can reach the nucleus in just five minutes; and, finally, while also ensuring that the Port of Málaga will be able to cope with more than 5,000 embarking/disembarking passengers at any one time.

With the construction of properties, urban, cultural and leisure facilities of this caliber the provincial capital will become a major point of reference not only for Mediterranean cruise traffic, but also for liners operating en route to and from North America and the Caribbean. Along the east coast line to Benalmadena and Malaga International Airport is many new building project build and on the way, IKEA, Plaza Major, Guadalmar shopping complex and on the sea side many new development of apartments, villas, townhouses and also some luxury villas on the first line of the beach.

Celebrated and famous ships in Malaga port.

Pioneering the residential lifestyle at sea concept, the celebrated The World - launched in 2002, whose residents enjoy whole ownership on board and, in consultation with the captains, collectively determine the ship’s annual itinerary – epitomizes the ultimate luxury. A floating city continuously circumnavigating the world, her 165 private residences were fully sold out by June 2006, although some are available to rent. Visiting no fewer than 35 countries this year, she comes to Málaga in December, before setting sail for Tangier, Casablanca, the Canary Islands and Funchal, where she’ll welcome in the New Year.

Following in the wake of her sister ships Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Mary 2, Cunard’s sleek new Queen Victoria will be launched in December 2007 and will be tying-up in Málaga on Boxing Day as part of her Maiden Canary Islands Festive Celebration. A star-studded role call of other famous liners revisiting the Port in the next few months includes the Seven Seas Voyager, Queen Elizabeth 2, Navigator of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas, Costa Magica, Carnival Freedom, Oriana, Costa Serena and Costa Concordia. But if you’re not impressed by size and luxury, smaller cruise ships offering mini breaks are another alternative. Then again, if your sea-legs aren’t entirely reliable, the myriad leisure facilities soon opening at the Port and Malaga will in them be an attraction well worth visiting.