Malaga, the capital of the above province, and, next to Barcelona, the most important seaport of Spain, is finely situated on the Mediterranean coast, at the southern base of the group of hills known to history as the Axarquia, and at the eastern extremity of the fertile vega of Malaga (36° 43' N. lat., 4° 25' W. long.). The population in 1877 was 115,882. In the clearness of its sky, which a cloud rarely obscures, and the beautiful sweep of its bay, Malaga has sometimes been compared to Naples. The climate is one of the mildest and most equable in Europe, the mean annual temperature being 66 o- 7 Fahr. (55°'6 in winter, 80 o, 4 in summer); the yearly average of rainy days is thirty-nine, and the rainfall is slightly under 16 inches. The town 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, but those in the older part of the town, where the buildings are huddled around the ancient citadel, are narrow, winding, and often dilapidated. There are various squares or plazas and public promenades: of the former the most important are the Plaza de Riego

(containing the monument to General Torrijos, who, along with forty-eight others, was executed in Malaga in 1831) and the Plaza de la Constitucion; adjoining the quay is the fine Paseo de la Alameda. The town has no public buildings of commanding importance architecturally or historically. The cathedral, on the site of the ancient mosque, was begun about 1528, in the .Graeco-Roman style; after the works had been once and again interrupted and resumed, it was completed to its present state in the 18th century, and is in consequence an obtrusive record of the degeneration of Spanish architecture. The woodwork of the choir, however, is worthy of attention. The church of El Cristo de la Victoria contains some relics of thé siege by the “Catholic kings.” Of the old Moorish “Atarazanas” or arsenal only a single horse-shoe gateway now remains, the rest of the site being chiefly occupied by an iron structure used as a meat and provision market; the “Alcazaba” or citadel has entirely disappeared. The castle of Gibralfaro, on a bold eminence to the north-east, dating from the 13th century, is still in fairly good preservation. The harbour, which in the beginning of the present century was deep enough to float a line-of-battle ship, has in recent years been permitted to silt up, so that it is not now safe for vessels drawing more than 18 feet to enter. These are consequently obliged to lie in the roads outside, and receive and discharge cargo by means of lighters. New harbour works were begun in 1880, but from time to time have been suspended, and only some 280 yards of the new eastern mole (about onefourth of the intended length) have been constructed in October 1882. The trade of the port is chiefly in the products of the province,—lead, wine, raisins, oranges, lemons, figs, and esparto being the staples. The most active period is from the middle of August to the end of October. In 1880 the total quantity of muscatel raisins exported was estimated at 1,864,000 boxes (of 25 ft each), 35,500 frails (of 25 ft), and 15,000 barrels (of 50 ft); of this amount more than half was sent to the United States of America, and the remainder to other countries (chiefly Great Britain, France, and Germany). In the same year 50,000 boxes of lemons and 21,500 boxes of oranges were shipped, besides 20,000 barrels of muscatel grapes. The wine exported in 1879 was only 1,400,000 gallons as against 3,108,000 in 1878; the lead 310,251 cwts. as against 481,021. cwts. in 1878. The olive oil is sent chiefly to the Baltic. The principal imports are coal (41,822 tons in 1878), codfish, timber, pig-iron, hardware, machinery, and rails.

Malaga is the Mαλακ<x of Strabo (iii. 156) and Ptolemy (ii. 4, 7), and the Malaca 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. After the battle of Guadalete it passed into the possession of the Arabs, and soon came to be regarded as one of the most important cities of Andalucia. It was attached to the caliphate of Cordoba, 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 and treated with great harshness by Ferdinand and Isabella after a protracted siege. In 1810 it suffered much from the French general Sebastiani.