Over the last few years the choice of a cruise as a vacation destination in itself, unimaginable just a decade or two ago, has experienced a spectacular increase in popularity. According to studies by experts in tourist traffic trends the “cruise era” is just taking off, so still greater and more accelerated growth can be expected although it should be kept in mind that this mode of vacationing develops more slowly than conventional forms of tourism. 

Cruise ship tourism has always been present on the Costa del Sol and in fact the port of Málaga has always been known for the quite remarkable amount of traffic by this type of craft, but there was nothing to compare to the expansion beginning in the decade of the nineties and lasting until now.

On the one hand the increase in the number of large cruise liners in response to the incessant demand, and on the other the consolidation of the Costa del Sol as a tourist destination of the first magnitude and Málaga’s geographic setting at the gates of the Mediterranean, have accelerated the thorough modernising of the Port of Málaga in order to properly receive these majestic vessels. 

The Málaga port facility that not long ago still had its traditional and almost romantic nineteenth century appearance not only has met the challenges posed by the new era but has also shown itself, by remodelling its antiquated installations and building new ones, to be one of the most advanced in Spain. With the construction of the East Dock, with 2,500 linear metres exclusively for the docking of cruise liners, it has moved into second place on the mainland in terms of traffic by large recreational craft. 

The modernisation of the Málaga port facility has caused a gradual change in the practices of cruise passengers arriving in this city. Years ago it was routine to find that passengers disembarked from the ocean-going vessels and boarded comfortable busses that carried them, generally, to some of the Andalusian cities known for their monuments. Some, it is true, chose to visit some of the Costa del Sol localities but only a small number stayed in the city of Málaga. The figures have been reversed; now few leave the province of Málaga and many more head to the Costa del Sol or to some of the historic interior cities, with no disinclination to visit the capital city itself. This goes to show the drawing power of the Costa del Sol at the international level and that the city of Málaga has undergone great improvement with regard to its tourist offer. The rehabilitation of a large proportion of its monuments and the opening of the Picasso Museum, as well as the modernisation of the commercial and lodging sectors, have strongly contributed to this change in the trend.