MALAGA, the capital of the province of Malaga, an epis copal see, and, next to Barcelona, the most important seaport of Spain, finely situated on the Mediterranean coast, at the southern base of the Axarquia hills and at the eastern extremity of the fer tile vega (plain) of Malaga in 36° 43' N. and 4° 25' W. Pop. (1930), 188,oio. The climate is mild and equable, the mean an nual temperature being 66.7°. The principal railway inland gives access through Bobadilla to all parts of Spain, with a branch line along the coast to Velez-Malaga. Malaga is the MAXawc of Strabo (iii. 156) and Ptolemy (ii. 4, 7) and the Malaga foederatorum of Pliny (iii. 3). The place seems to have been of some importance even during the Carthaginian period ; under the Romans it became a municipium, and under the Visigoths an episcopal see. In 711 it passed into the possession of the Moors, and soon came to be regarded as one of the most important cities of Andalusia. It was attached to the caliphate of Cordova, but on the fall of the Omayyad dynasty it became for a short time the capital of an independent kingdom ; afterwards it was dependent on Granada. In 1487 it was taken by Ferdinand and Isabella after a pro tracted siege. In 1810 it was sacked by the French under Gen eral Sebastiani.
Malaga lies principally on the left bank of a mountain torrent, the Guadalmedina ("river of the city") ; the streets near the sea are spacious and comparatively modern, and well-built suburbs have also spread on all sides into the rich and pleasant country which surrounds Malaga. The Plaza de Riego, the Plaza de la
Constitucion, and the Paseo de la Alameda are important. The cathedral, on the site of an ancient mosque, was begun about i 1528; after its construction had been twice interrupted, it was completed to its present state in the t8th century. The castle of Gibralfaro, on a rock to the N.E. dates from the i3th century.
New harbour works were undertaken in 1880, and all vessels can load or discharge at the quays, which are connected with the main railway system by a branch line. Iron, lead, wine, olive oil, brandy, almonds, fresh and dried fruit, hats and canary seed are exported in large quantities. Imports include petroleum, grain, codfish, fuel, chemicals, iron and steel, machinery and manures. There are large cotton mills, iron foundries, smelting works and engineering works. The industries include tanning, dis tilling and the manufacture of sugar, chocolate, soap, candles, artificial ice, chemical products, white lead and pianos.