English and the World · Spain · 21 · Málaga province · A1–C2 · Free
Mountains and valleys, dolmens and caves, raisins and avocados, a national park and one of Europe’s busiest coasts: an overview of the province, and the places we will visit next. Choose your level.
From the coast to the mountains
The province of Málaga is in the south of Spain, in Andalusia. The city of Málaga is on the coast, and the province is all around it. There are 103 towns and villages, and about 1.7 million people.
In the south there is the Mediterranean Sea. Along the coast is the Costa del Sol, with beaches and famous towns: Marbella, Torremolinos and Nerja.
In the east is the Axarquía, with white villages, raisins, mangoes and avocados. In the west is the Serranía de Ronda, with high mountains and the town of Ronda. In the north is Antequera, in a wide, green valley.
The highest mountain is La Maroma, 2,066 metres high, near the border between Málaga and Granada.
Things to see
Near Antequera there are dolmens: huge stone tombs more than 5,000 years old. Near Nerja there is a big cave with prehistoric paintings. Five boys found it in 1959.
North of Málaga is the Caminito del Rey, a path on the walls of a gorge. Ronda is on top of a gorge too, with a famous bridge across it.
Since 2021, the Sierra de las Nieves, between Ronda and the coast, has been a national park.
Language: places and directions
| What | How | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A part of a region | in the north / south / east / west of | The Axarquía is in the east of the province. |
| Outside a place | north / south… of (no the) | The Caminito is north of Málaga. |
| Next to the sea | on the coast | Marbella is on the coast. |
| In the middle of two things | between A and B | between Málaga and Granada |
| Close to | near | near Antequera |
| From one side to the other | across | a bridge across the gorge |
Read the texts first. Press “Check my answers” at the end.
Choose the best answer.
1. Where is the Axarquía?
2. What is the highest mountain?
3. What are the dolmens near Antequera?
4. Who found the cave near Nerja?
Write the missing word.
5. The province of Málaga is in the of Spain.
6. Marbella and Nerja are on the .
7. La Maroma is near the border Málaga and Granada.
8. Ronda has a famous bridge the gorge.
Write the or nothing (–).
9. Antequera is in north of the province.
10. The Caminito del Rey is north of Málaga. (Write – if no word is needed.)
11. The Serranía de Ronda is in west of the province.
12. Granada is east of Málaga. (Write – if no word is needed.)
Days out
Ideas: a day in Ronda; a day in Antequera and its dolmens; a morning in the Cave of Nerja and an afternoon in the white village of Frigiliana; a walk on the Caminito del Rey. Trains and buses go to many towns: check before you go.
Your task: draw a simple map of your region and write six sentences: … is in the north of … . … is on the coast. … is between … and … .
Beyond the city
The seven lessons before this one stayed inside the city of Málaga. This one opens the map. Within an hour or two of the city you can stand on a 2,000-metre peak, walk through a forest of rare firs, enter a cave painted by prehistoric artists, or lie on a beach where, seventy years ago, there were only fishermen.
Read the two texts, then do the practice.
The shape of the province
The province of Málaga covers about 7,300 square kilometres, with 103 municipalities and around 1.7 million people, which makes it the second most populated province in Andalusia. Mountains run across it from east to west, separating a narrow, crowded coast from the quieter interior. The highest peak, La Maroma, rises to 2,066 metres in the Sierra Tejeda, on the border with Granada.
Each district has kept its own character. The Axarquía, in the east, has grown raisins for centuries, and in recent decades it has become one of Europe’s main areas for avocados and mangoes. The Serranía de Ronda, in the west, is a land of limestone mountains and white villages. In 2021, the Sierra de las Nieves became Spain’s sixteenth national park; it has been a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 1995, and its forests of pinsapo, a rare fir that survived the Ice Ages, are the largest in Spain.
Five thousand years in a few lines
People have lived here for a very long time. Near Antequera, farmers built huge stone tombs, the dolmens of Menga and Viera, more than five thousand years ago; the site has been a World Heritage Site since 2016. In 1959, five boys exploring near Nerja discovered a vast cave with prehistoric paintings, and since then millions of visitors have walked through its halls.
The biggest change, though, came in the second half of the 20th century. In the 1950s Torremolinos was still a fishing village; within twenty years it had become one of the best-known resorts in Europe, and tourism has shaped the coast ever since. The Costa del Sol has grown almost without interruption, and today it is one of the busiest holiday coasts in Europe.
Language: present perfect or past simple?
| We use… | For… | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Past simple | a finished time: in 1959, in 2021, five thousand years ago | Five boys discovered the cave in 1959. |
| Present perfect | a period up to now: since, for, ever since, in recent decades | Millions of visitors have walked through it since then. |
| Present perfect | a past change with a result now | The Axarquía has become an avocado region. |
| since / for | since + a point in time; for + a period | since 2016; for centuries |
The perfect aspect links the past to now. Compare: It became a national park in 2021 (the event) and It has been a national park since 2021 (the state, up to now).
Fact or not sure?
| Statement | Status | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The Sierra de las Nieves became a national park in 2021 | Fact | By a law of 1 July 2021. |
| The paintings in the Cave of Nerja are over 40,000 years old | Not sure | Some researchers have claimed this; others dispute the dating. |
| The dolmens of Antequera are a World Heritage Site | Fact | Since 2016. |
| Málaga is the second most populated province in Andalusia | Fact | After Seville, according to official figures. |
Read both texts first. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
Choose the best answer.
1. What separates the coast from the interior?
2. What is the pinsapo?
3. What has changed in the Axarquía in recent decades?
4. What happened to Torremolinos?
5. Who built the dolmens?
6. Why is the age of the Nerja paintings “not sure”?
Write the verb in the right form.
7. In 1959, five boys (discover) the Cave of Nerja.
8. Since then, millions of people (visit) it.
9. The Sierra de las Nieves (become) a national park in 2021.
10. The site (be) a World Heritage Site since 2016.
11. The Axarquía (grow) raisins for centuries.
12. In the 1950s, Torremolinos (be) a fishing village.
Choose the best answer.
13. It has been a biosphere reserve ___ 1995.
14. People have lived here ___ thousands of years.
15. Which sentence is correct?
16. Which sentence is correct?
Where do these words come from?
17. Dolmen probably comes from Breton. What do its parts mean?
18. Avocado comes, through Spanish aguacate, from a language of Mexico. Which one?
19. A province was originally a territory under Roman…
Five days out from the city
Ideas: Ronda and its gorge; Antequera, its dolmens and the strange limestone landscape of El Torcal; the Cave of Nerja and Frigiliana; the Caminito del Rey; a walk among the pinsapos of the Sierra de las Nieves. Check transport and opening times before you go.
Your task: write about how your town or region has changed (100–120 words). Use the past simple for finished times and the present perfect with since and for.
From the dolmens to the dams
Seen from the air, the province of Málaga is a set of steps. The Betic ranges cross it from east to west, from the Sierra Tejeda, where La Maroma reaches 2,066 metres, to the Serranía de Ronda, dropping steeply to a narrow coastal strip along the Mediterranean. Rivers such as the Guadalhorce cut through them, and in their valleys lie the oldest monuments of the region: the dolmens of Menga and Viera, near Antequera, built by farming communities more than five thousand years ago and inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2016.
Prehistoric artists left their marks in the caves of Nerja and La Pileta; some researchers have claimed that certain markings in Nerja are over 40,000 years old, which would make them the work of Neanderthals, though the dating remains disputed. Later layers are easier to read: Roman towns along the coast; the fortress of Bobastro, where the rebel Umar ibn Hafsun defied the emirs of Córdoba for decades; and, in the 19th century, the bandits and romantic travellers who made the Serranía a byword for wild Spain.
From the 1950s to today
No change has been as rapid as that of the Costa del Sol. In the 1950s, Torremolinos was a fishing village; within two decades it had become one of Europe’s most famous resorts, and the coast between Nerja and Manilva filled with hotels and housing. Today Málaga is the second most populous province in Andalusia, with some 1.7 million inhabitants, most of them living on the coast.
The interior has changed too, if less visibly. In the Axarquía, terraces once planted with vines for Muscatel raisins now also grow avocados and mangoes, a boom that has brought prosperity and, in years of drought, a fierce debate about water. In 2021, the Sierra de las Nieves, home to most of Spain’s pinsapo forests, became the country’s sixteenth national park. The province’s challenge is to balance the two: a coast that lives from visitors and an interior that many of its young people have left.
Language: articles with place names
| Usually with the | Usually without the |
|---|---|
| Seas, oceans, rivers: the Mediterranean, the Guadalhorce | Towns, cities, most countries: Ronda, Málaga, Spain |
| Mountain ranges: the Serranía de Ronda, the Alps, the Sierra Tejeda | Single mountains: La Maroma, Mount Everest |
| Regions named with a common noun: the Costa del Sol, the Axarquía | Continents and most regions: Europe, Andalusia |
| Names with of: the province of Málaga, the Cave of Nerja, the Strait of Gibraltar | Possessive or compound forms: Nerja Cave, Málaga Airport |
| Plural names and countries with common nouns: the Canary Islands, the United Kingdom | Lakes with Lake: Lake Geneva |
⚠️ Spanish names that already contain an article keep it and take no English the: La Maroma, El Torcal, La Pileta (not ✗ the La Maroma).
Evidence and debate
| Claim | What we can say |
|---|---|
| Some Nerja markings are over 40,000 years old, by Neanderthals | Claimed by some researchers; disputed by others. |
| The Sierra de las Nieves holds most of Spain’s pinsapo forests | About 65%, according to the Spanish environment ministry. |
| The avocado boom threatens the Axarquía’s water | A live debate, with farmers, environmentalists and authorities disagreeing. |
Debate: How should a province like Málaga balance a coast full of visitors with an interior that is losing its young people?
Read both texts first. Press “Check my answers” at the end.
Choose the best answer.
1. Why does the writer describe the province as “a set of steps”?
2. Why does the writer say later layers are “easier to read”?
3. What does “a byword for wild Spain” mean?
4. How does the writer present the avocado boom?
5. What is “the province’s challenge”?
6. How does the writer treat the claim about Neanderthal paintings?
Write the or – (no article).
7. The coast runs along Mediterranean.
8. The town of Ronda stands above a gorge.
9. The Betic ranges include Sierra Tejeda.
10. The highest peak is La Maroma.
11. Raisins have been grown in Axarquía for centuries.
12. Andalusia is the most populous region of Spain.
Choose the best answer.
13. Which is correct?
14. Which is correct?
15. Which is correct?
16. Which is correct?
Where do these words come from?
17. Mediterranean comes from Latin medius and terra. What does it mean?
18. Sierra comes from Latin serra. What was a serra?
19. Bandit comes from Italian bandito. What did it first mean?
A province in five days
Visit: the dolmens of Antequera and the limestone maze of El Torcal; Ronda and the Serranía; the Cave of Nerja and the villages of the Axarquía; the Caminito del Rey; the pinsapo forests of the Sierra de las Nieves. Check transport and opening times before you go.
Write (220–260 words): an introduction to a region you know for a travel guide, from its geography to its present challenges. Use at least ten place names, each with or without the correctly.