There was snow at the end of winter of 2022 and the sun was making but only – as it were – as a cameo appearance in the imaginary film called ‘Spring in Belgium‘. Spending my holiday in the cold wasn’t an option. I was hungry for sun, splendid food and handsome men. Torremolinos came to the rescue! The working title ‘Spring in Belgium’ was scrapped in favour of ‘Spring in Andalusia‘.

Torremolinos is one of Spain‘s top gay destinations. It has its rightful place next to Barcelona, Sitges, Madrid and Maspalomas. I owed it to myself being a single man with a strong connection to the LGBTQIA+ community to visit this city. 

So I booked myself a flight to Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport. My Tui Fly flight from Brussels Airport was nicely on time. Before I knew it I set foot on Spanish soil. 

Since 1919

The airport is the fourth busiest airport of Spain and very modern, but in fact it has a long history. Regular flights started here in 1919 and they haven’t stopped since. 

The airport is just 5 km north of Torremolinos. There is a train station at the airport. There you take train C1 in the direction of Fuengirola, a ride of just four stops and eleven minutes and you reach train station Torremolinos. The first thing you see when you leave the station is a big rainbow flag waving at the Plaza de la Nogalera. Your immediately feel welcome. 

Ritual 

I booked a room in Hotel Ritual Torremolinos, an adults-only gay hotel. It is at walking distance from La Nogalera, the building complex that houses most of the gay bars. 

This stylish hotel has a spa and two outside pools. The rooftop pool with bar is for people who like nudist swimming and sunbathing. Generally I am not much of a nudist person but I had a go at it and it was actually quite comfortable. 

Of course there is some winking and staring. But all the same you can just enjoy your afternoon in the sun and read a book. The downstairs pool is for people who prefer to keep their clothes on.

All rooms come with air conditioning, a flat-screen TV, minibar and private balcony. I didn’t have a sea view, my balcony faced Torremolinos. Nonetheless it had a splendid view with the mountains in the background. Free WiFi is featured throughout the property. By putting a card on your door sign you can indicate that you want your room cleaned. This was done very nicely, no need to insist. 

My vitamins 

Breakfast and diner are served in a restaurant with hot pink walls and overlooking the swimming pool. I went to the hotel in low season. For diner I could choose a starter, a main dish and a dessert. Drinks were extra charge, but prices were very low. 

For each course there were three options. I myself am lactose intolerant and I did miss a lot of options for people with other food allergies. But I talked this through with the staff members and they adjust your dish to your allergy.

As a dessert, by lack of other options, I had fruit salad every day: two slices of pineapple, a slice of orange and two slices of melon served on a small dish. The waiter and I started joking when ordering that we didn’t need to discuss the desert. My ‘daily dose of vitamins’ was assured. 

If you like piña colada

Just to be sure I wouldn’t lack vitamins I did hit the bars for a piña colada. A good place for cocktails is Billie’s in Calle Casablanca. They have live music on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

Each week they have a cocktail of the week. It happened to be Saint Patrick’s Day so the one I had was a green cocktail. The waiters are very welcoming and the seats are comfortable. 

Pueblo Blanco 

Another nice place to relax are the bars in Pueblo Blanco, a courtyard with a fountain surrounded by white houses apartments. There you can visit Boomerang, a bar run by Gill, a most charming British woman. I like slightly cluttered bars with lots of decoration and got exactly that at Boomerang. There were of course boomerangs at the walls (a reference to Gills relatives in Australia), rainbow flags, tongue in cheek signs and top of the bill a small disco ball illuminated by blacklight. Gill really makes you feel at home. This is a play on word no-brainer: Boomerang is a bar to which you always return. 

Facing Boomerang you have bar Havana, a somewhat chic cocktail bar with Latin vibes. Here I had that piña colada. The waiters were as sweet as the drinks. I saw a portrait of a lovely lady in a traditional dress. One of the waiters explained to me it’s a major Cuban dance instructor in Latin dance. Havana is a good bar to visit on your first day because it immediately puts you in that holiday atmosphere. 

La Nogalera 

Most of the gay bars are located in the building complex La Nogalera. It’s a somewhat old building complex, but much better maintained than say Yumbo Centre in Masplomas. Coming from a town that doesn’t really have one central gay street or square, I just loved La Nogalera.

I dropped by Bar Vida. It’s Dutch owned so you can easily meet Dutch and Belgian people here. Vida is a bar with Tiffany pendant lights, shelves full of drinks, kitsch and camp decoration and good music. The bar is bathing a pink twilight. The kind of place where you are so stuck to your chair that you will have more than one drink. It’s open every day.

La Bamba 

To get more up-tempo I went to 3 Monkeys. You can have a snack here but I really went for the bar. A man with a glitter beard in a captain’s uniform greeted me. I immediately had to think of the lyrics of ‘La Bamba‘, which in Belgium is a known gay song to indicate you can start dancing in a circle and kiss other people. “Yo no soy marinero, soy capitán. Soy capitán, soy capitán! Bamba, bamba.” 

3 Monkeys is a small bar but there is plenty of dancing and drinking. Most of the visitors are English speaking.

A nice bar for daytime drinks is Vanilla. Owner and bartender Jamie is an absolute gem. He can turn a sour face into a smiling face in the blink of an eye. His business is at the Plaza de la Nogalera. He was really the first person to open a gay bar in the central square of town and others have followed his example. 

Vanilla’s terrace overlooks the central square so it’s nice if you are addicted to watching people walk by, like me. The great aspect of gay Torremolinos is that most gay men from Málaga go out in Torremolinos, because despite Málaga being a big city, it doesn’t have a big gay infrastructure. 

Cruising 

There are also cruising bars in Torremolinos. There is Attack (which was called Querell Bar before) at Avenida Carlota Alessandri. The bar has a BDSM/leather feel. It’s a bit further down in the city. 

In La Nogalera you have Men’s Bar. If the keywords bear, leather, butch and daddy appeal to you, you are going to love Men’s Bar! Upstairs you can sit outside and look at passers-by, inside you can have a drink and downstairs you will find the cruising area. It begins where the toilets are. 

The city really has a great diversity of gay bars. I won’t discuss all of them. For cruising Grindr is sufficient as well. I was in at low season and there were plenty of guys using the app nearby. Maybe the best fun I had was not in a bar, but in a Spanish man’s home. I will leave that up to your imagination. What happens in Torremolinos, stays in Torremolinos. 

Vamos a la Playa 

During my first full day I went down the beach. If you walk out Rituals Hotel towards Calle Skal you have a gate announcing ‘Camino de la playa‘ at a certain point. This is a very decent road with stairs leading you down to the beach and plenty of benches next to the stairs where those who have difficulties climbing stairs can rest before continuing to climb or descend. 

The beaches are nice. You can rent a beach chair and there are plenty of bars and restaurants. I visited restaurant El Gato Playa. It’s a gay friendly restaurant with a nice sea view. I had octopus carpaccio with oil lime dressing and pink peppers with a gin and tonic. The dish tasted great and it looked good on picture too. If you are a foodie and you like to arouse jealousy amongst your peeps back home with all your food pictures, you might want to visit this restaurant.

Opposite of El Gato Playa, more by the beach side, is Eden Beach Club. They weren’t open yet when I was there in low season, but during summer this is the place to hang out for gay people. The club invites show queens and deejays. You can have a shower in a cabin in rainbow colours. Eden Beach Club offers drinks and food. Be careful if you order sex on the beach! You might get more than a drink. 

Topless Dalí 

Right next to these places is Punta de Torremolinos, also called El Morro, a small cape with cliffs. It’s a natural boundary between two beaches but you can walk all the way passed it. 

This is the home of a group of wild cats. You are not allowed to feed them. A group of local volunteers makes sure they are taken care of. 

It also has a statue of Gala Dalí, the wife of surrealist artist Salvador Dalí. The artist and his wife liked visiting Torremolinos. Gala Dalí was seen on a picture bathing topless, a first instance of this activity documented in Spain. This photograph inspired the statue. 

From there you can walk all the way to Benalmádena, the southern neighbouring town of Torremolinos. At the beach of Benalmádena you have a pier with a lighthouse from where you can enjoy nice beach views. This town used to have a theme park but it closed down in 2021 after 49 years. A Ferris wheel next to the pier remembers us of this tourist history. 

Casa de los Navajas 

Let’s head back to Torremolinos. However small a town it may be, it does have some nice attractions. One is La Casa de los Navajas, a must-see historical building. In the 1920s and 1930s along with the construction of the first hotels some wealthy families chose Torremolinos as their second home. 

The Luque-Navajas family gave instruction to build this glorious house (Dare I say villa?) in 1925. Casa de los Navajas is close to Bajondillo beach and can be reached via Calle de los Navajas or Calle las Mercedes. The entry is free. 

The Luque-Navajas family made good money in the sugar cane business. The house is constructed in Neo-Mudejar style with Mozarabic touches. This style refers to Moorish architecture. Style elements such as the horseshoe arch and arabesque tiling are featured in this architectural style. 

This should not come as a surprise. From 711 to 1492 Spain was under Muslim rule. At the peak of this influence most of the Iberian Peninsula was in Muslim hands. Only the mountainous north of Spain remained Christian. 

The Kingdom of Asturias was founded. It took approximately 770 years to get the entire Iberian Peninsula back under Christian influence. 

The Emirate of Granada, to which Málaga and also Torremolinos belonged, was the last to fall. This long Muslim presence inspired later architecture such as seen in La Casa de los Navajas. In the top towers of Casa de los Navajas you can take lovely pictures as a holiday souvenir or to feed your Instagram. 

Close to this fabulous house I found a delightful place for eating: Bistro Europa in Pasaje del Bajondillo. It’s British owned. Most of the customers are English and a local London radio can be heard inside the bistro. You can have an English breakfast here, but also Mediterranean dishes and drinks. I had a great salad with salmon and avocado here. The prices are very reasonable, the food is fresh and the English-speaking staff is very kind. 

Down in the Park 

If you want to escape the tourists and beaches, just read a book in the afternoon, you can head to Parque de la Batería. This park is a place of disconnect. It has ambling trails, a boat pond, children’s playground and fountains. 

The park is 74.000 square metres. It has more than a thousand trees of 25 different species. You can rent a rowing boat and it also has a classic Venetian-style carousel. From the 15-meter high lookout tower you can enjoy a nice sea view.

The name Parque de la Batería (the Battery Park) is a reference to the old coastal defence battery that was located here before. You can still see some vintage Schneider artillery guns and two underground bunkers here. 

Schneider guns, unlike what the name suggests, are French produced guns that were used by many countries during World War I and World War II. Spain was nominally neutral during World War II. But it needMore than, but also sausages: rich cuisine of Germany’s heartland Saxony, Franconia and Bavarias no explanation that far right leader General Franco was politically aligned with Nazi Germany. Spain in many ways collaborated with the Nazis. It is all the more a relief that we can now travel freely in Europe to a democratic Spain and also enjoy this lovely Park in Torremolinos. 

Somewhere Over the Rainbow 

Torremolinos is a lovely town. The streets are clean and the lanes are nicely decorated.  All over town the streets are decorated with orange trees. Don’t be mislead: these orange taste very sour and are really only good to use in perfume and cosmetics.

There’s no getting around the rainbow in this town. The city plan marks the LGBTQIA+ zone.

You have a rainbow coloured mailbox of Correos, the state owned company that is responsible for providing postal service in Spain. There is the big rainbow flag in the center square and rainbow pedestrian crossings. Somewhere over the rainbow in Torremolinos there are much more rainbows! 

Local politicians also are keen on attracting gay tourists. A nice example of this is the Gala Drag, a drag show in the context of carnival that takes place every year. It’s organized by the city in the auditorium of Torremolinos. It’s totally free, so you have to be early to claim a seat. The level this year was quite high. Also literally since many Spanish dragqueens wear platform shoes because let’s face it, Spanish men in average are not that tall. 

Throughout the year there are many gay events: Gala drag, fetish weekend, gay pride, Mad Bear Beach Festival, Infinity Festival Torremolinos … I must say I did like Ritual Hotel a lot. 

I have visited other gay hotels before, several hotels of Axel in both Spain and Germany, and they just don’t offer the same great experience as Ritual Hotel. Especially at night the magic becomes complete. The whole hotel is lit in rainbow colours. The owners didn’t economize on making this magnificent statement. If your budget allows it, choose this hotel. Ritual Hotel is the meeting point for many gay travelers. 

Ancient Málaga 

What really plays into the hands of Torremolinos is the proximity of Málaga. People who like culture and history don’t need to go far to visit all kinds of attractions. But also day excursions to Seville, Granada and Gibraltar are possible. I decided to visit Málaga and Granada. 

Málaga is the sixth biggest city of Spain with its 570,000 inhabitants. Only Seville is a bigger city in Andalusia. The city was founded about 770 BC making it one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe. 

Many of the city’s tourist attractions, like the Teatro Romano (an ancient Roman theater), the Alcazaba (a palatial fortification built during the Muslim-ruled period), the Castle of Gibralfaro (the ruins of a 1300s Moorish castle and fortress on top of Mount Gibralfaro) and the 15th century Church of Santiago are all rooted in history. 

Flowers 

I went for a totally different thrill. I am the son of a plant seller and still very attracted to anything that has to do with plants and flowers. So I visited Jardín Botánico Histórico – La Concepción. This botanical garden is situated in the north of the city. From the city center you have to take bus number 2 from stop Atarazanas all the way to its terminus San José. 

This garden was built around 1855 by the marquess and marchioness of the House of Loring, Jorge Loring Oyarzabal and Amalia Heredia Livermore. They were born to well-known businessmen who came to the city to make their fortunes. 

In La Concepción they treasured a substantial archaeological heritage. Some of the Roman sculptures and mosaics can still been seen here today. 

La Concepción is one of the few gardens with subtropical plants in Europe. You can find more than fifty thousand plants here. There are about two thousand species of tropical, subtropical and autochthonous species displayed here and more than one hundred different species of palms, bamboos and aquatic plans. 

It is rather unknown to the general public but Mediterranean vegetation is considered to be one of the richest in diversity of species. About 20% of the world flora with numerous native ones can be found in regions with a Mediterranean climate.  

Around the World

There are some spectacular trees to be seen here. But the champion of them all is a big ficus macrophylla tree. It has eye-catching roots. This tree is native to Australia and part of the fig family. With its enormous crown it’s really a wonderful tree. 

Another highlight in the garden is the historical viewpoint built around 1920. A pond with turtles surrounded by huge cypress trees leads to a beautiful green and white tiled gazebo. It’s very picture worthy. From the gazebo you can see the cathedral of Málaga, Mount Gibralfaro, the Málaga hills and the Mediterranean Sea. 

La Concepción offers much more: a cactus and succulent plant garden, a palms avenue, a garden of the senses with fruit trees and climbers, a waterfall, a ‘walk around the world in 80 trees’ and a walk of Hibiscus plants and trees. There is lots of climbing so be in shape when you visit this historical garden. 

Foodgasms 

When you head back with bus number 2 to the city center you might want to visit the Atarazanas market. Before this hall was built between 1876 and 1879 there used to be a working space for boats. ‘Atarazana’ means shipyard in Spanish language. This explains the name of the place. 

Nowadays it is a huge indoor market where you can buy fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and meat. But I went to eat tapas and fresh pescaíto, typical small fried fish, in the bars of the market. It’s both tourists and locals who come to drink and eat here. 

I can really recommend Central Bar in the Atarazanas market. The hard working Beatriz welcomed me here and served me some amazing food. 

First I had boquerones fritos, fried anchovies. Then I had concha fine Málaga, reddish molluscs that create a burst of salty freshness on your palate. As I couldn’t get enough I also ordered gambas pil-pil, Spanish garlic and chilli prawns. To top it off I had some zamburiñas, variegated scallops prepared with garlic and olive oil.

Do you want to experience several foodgasms in one hour? This is the place to be. Thank God I don’t put on weight at all, even if I eat a lot!

In the Atarazanas market I also found my souvenir: a pink Spanish gin. I also found dried hibiscus flower, ideal as a sweet garnish for your gin and tonic. That’s so gay … and I love it! 

Pablo Picasso 

When talking culture in Málaga you can’t ignore Pablo Picasso. The renowned painter, sculptor, ceramist and theatre designer was born here. He spent his youth in Málaga. 

He did spend most of his live in France and many will associate Barcelona more with the artist than Málaga. But let there be no mistake: the artist himself expressed the wish for his work to be displayed in the city of his birth. 

Thus the Museo Picasso Málaga was created. Don’t make the mistake I made, book your ticket in advance to avoid long queues! This museum is a small museum. Don’t expect the most famous works here. For Pablo’s well-known painting ‘Guernica’ for example, you have to go the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid. But the museum does have a nice collection of Picasso drawings, paintings and ceramics.  

The museum provides an insight into eight decades of Pablo Picasso’s work. The core of the collection is made up of 233 works by Pablo Picasso gifted by Christine and Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, the artist’s daughter-in-law and grandson, which are complemented from time to time by a selection of works from the funds of the Fundación Almine y Berndard Ruiz-Picasso and other occasional loans. 

Buenavista Palace

I really liked the wool tapestry ‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’ by Jacqueline Dürrbach, based on a painting Picasso made in 1907 during his African Period. But also a neoclassical oil painting ‘Child with a toy horse (Paulo)’ from 1923 I found quite fascinating. Some of the portraits of family members are also hypnotizing. 

Even though this is clearly not the biggest Picasso collection, it is nice to see that you can get a sort of overview of Pablo Picasso’s career in his own town. Also the museum building itself is appealing. The collection is housed in Buenavista Palace. It’s located in the heart of the city’s historic quarter. Buenavista Palace is a splendid example of sixteenth-century Andalusian architecture, with a blend of Renaissance and Mudéjar elements. 

Alhambra 

For the real architectural highlight of Andalusia, you have to go to Granada though. So I did. You go there for the Alhambra of course, the palace and fortress complex. It is one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic islamic world. 

Like mentioned earlier, from 711 to 1492 Spain was partially – and at some point almost entirely – under muslim rule. Al-Andalus was the muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. In the 11th century the muslim states started to fragment. The christian reconquering by the Christians, the Reconquista, was in full swing. 

By 1230, the Almohad Caliphate in Morocco ruled what remained of the muslim territories in the south of Spain. The ambitious Muhammad ibn al-Ahmar came to power. This was the beginning of the Nasrid dynasty. It was the last muslim dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula, ruling the Emirate of Granada. In 1238 Muhammad ibn al-Ahmar began building the complex that became the Alhambra. 

By 1250 the Emirate was in fact a vassal to the rising Crown of Castile. Nevertheless for over two centuries Granada prospered culturally and economically. This allowed the building of the Alhambra. The complex is built on a hill, an outcrop of the mountain range Sierra Nevada. If it is not too cloudy you can enjoy a view of the mountains from the Alhambra. 

King of My Castle 

After the Reconquista in 1492 it became the Royal Court of the Catholic Monarchs during the unification of Spain. Spanish kings had an influence on the complex. Charles V commissioned building a new Renaissance-style palace next to the Nasrid palaces in 1526. The Spanish Inquisition was installed to maintain catholic orthodoxy. Muslims had to convert to Christianity or leave Spain. In fact many left the Iberian Peninsula, also many skilled builders and decorators. 

The Palace of Charles V remains incomplete. If you go inside of the inner circular patio you can see this clearly. There is a beautiful Doric colonnade of conglomerate stone but no other decoration. 

Typical of the different Nasrid palaces is that there is water running through them. Offering water to guests was seen as a sign of politeness. And of course it cools down the indoor gardens during summer. Often the outside is not heavily decorated because it was considered not done to show off wealth. Above doors you sometimes see keys depicted, a sign of power. 

Palace of the Lions 

The clay that is used to construct the palaces contains iron oxide giving it its reddish colour. Alhambra means ‘the red one’. What is beautiful about the palaces is the Islamic calligraphy. ‘There is no victor but God’ is a phrase that often returns. There is also beautiful geometric tiling.  

The Palace of the Lions is considered the most beautiful of all the palaces you can visit at the Alhambra. It was commissioned by sultan Muhammed V. Its construction began in 1362 and it was finished later that century. The marble fountain with twelve sculpted lions in the main courtyard is the picture to take. Being seen here in presence of the lions is the visual prove you have visited the Alhambra. The symmetries, but also the muqarnas vaults, the ornamented vaulting typical for Islamic architecture, make this palace stand out. 

Renovation and preservation 

The Alcazaba, the fortress, is one of the oldest parts of the Alhambra. Muhammed I and Muhammed II lived in the Alcazaba when the palaces were still being built. But later on the Alcazaba was only used for military purposes. Three big towers were used to spot enemies and to defend the Alhambra. 

Much later other parts were added, like the Lower Gardens and Saint Mary’s Church, symbolizing the triumph of Christianity over Islam. You have to understand that many of the Islamic buildings in Spain were destroyed after the Reconquista. 

Often mosques were destroyed and churches built upon its rubble. In the Alhambra Islamic and Christian buildings are standing next to each other. If any damage was done, it was Napoleon I. 

British intellectuals rediscovered the Alhambra and Romantic travellers brought international attention to the complex. Since the 19th century the Alhambra has been subject to numerous renovations. Who ever said that tourism is damaging? Not in this case. 

Get a guide 

About 3 million people visit the Alhambra each year. It is a challenge to navigate all these visitors. There are a couple of points where your identity will be checked. Make sure to have your identity card or passport with you during the excursion. 

If you are visiting for the first time it is best to take a guide. The Alhambra isn’t just one palace. It is a whole city. You might get lost if you try to figure it out on your own. There are guided bus tours going to the Alhambra with starting points in Torremolinos or Málaga. Book them way in advance, especially if you are going to Andalusia in high season. 

I booked via GetYouGuide and am pretty pleased with the bus and guided tour I got. Do take into account that the journey may last longer than indicated. Guides are dependent of the visit hour they are appointed by the Alhambra office. So it’s best not to make evening reservations in restaurants in Torremolines or Málaga the day you are visiting the Alhambra. 

Celebration 

Looking back on my entire journey to Torremolines it isn’t difficult to understand why so many gay travelers come back every year. 

There is a nice diversity of gay events and gay bars. You have got the big city of Málaga nearby for your historical and cultural interests. Nearby attractions in Seville, Granada and Gibraltar assure that you have something new to discover each time you go. 

The people are friendly, the food is great and many months a year you have great weather. It doesn’t only sound like a great gay destination, it is. The other Spanish gay destinations have got fierce competition. 

Torremolines has claimed its place somewhere over the rainbow. Let us celebrate with that pink gin and tonic, please! 

Little extra

PS: This article is also a puzzle. I challenge you to find all the song titles in it.