There are few places where such a combination of historical and cultural significance and leisure activities are concentrated in a single area within just a few square metres. Places that are witness to the past of a city, where a number of languages have been spoken, and which have evolved over the years. In Málaga you can find such a place in La Plaza de la Merced, a meeting point for many foreign students who live on the Costa del Sol.
At all times of the day and the night. Whether it's summer or winter. Plaza de la Merced always has a lively atmosphere of young people thanks to all the bars, pubs and coffee shops in the vicinity. Most of these have a terrace where you can enjoy a beer or a coffee in Málaga's pleasant sunshine.
Plaza de la Merced is a central point of many academies for foreign students. Additionally, the neighbourhood of La Merced, where the Plaza (square) is located, is an area where many of these students choose to live during their stay in Málaga. For this reason, this square has become the ideal point to meet, chat and share experiences.
But what’s the special attraction? What is there in this square that has attracted the attention of some of the great personalities who have visited the Costa del Sol? One of the most important artists in the history of Spain was born and spent his early years in the former number 37: Pablo Ruiz Picasso. As a cultural offer, Pablo Ruiz Picasso’s Birthplace Museum may be visited, in what is now number 15 in Plaza de la Merced.
As well as Picasso, there are other great personalities of the world of the arts and letters who chose to settle in La Merced. The poet Pedro Luis de Gálvez, the writer Alejandro Sawa, the journalist Juan José de Relosillas, the sculptor Fernando Ortiz and the general Rafael del Riego were all enchanted by the area and chose it as a place to live.
La Merced is one of the few squares in Málaga that were originally built to be just that, a square. Many of Málaga's squares actually emerged in an improvised manner from the random construction of buildings and streets. But not La Merced; this was, from the outset, an area designed to let the city breathe. A place to sit in the sunshine, and to meet people.
Origins
In the original construction, the square housed a market, and for this reason it was first known as Plaza del Mercado (Market Square). Some time later it was renamed Plaza del Riego in honour of the general who lived there. Today, the monument in the centre of the square is a large obelisk, which serves as a tribute to General Torrijos and the 50 comrades executed along with him. Their remains lie under the monument.
In 2008, one of the square's most illustrious neighbours, Picasso, returned. Everyone who wants to can spend a while in the sunshine next to the Málaga-born genius, who is sitting on one of the benches in the form of a sculpture.
