Jane Bowles: The writer spent her final years in Malaga

Malaga city hall voted to name an avenue after the American writer Jane Bowles during a council meeting on 7 May 1998. Avenida Jane Bowles pays tribute to the writer who spent the last six years of her life in the city and is buried at the Cementerio Histórico San Miguel.

She and her husband Paul Bowles came to Malaga in 1967 from Tangiers where they had lived for a time, having left the Estados Unidos after the second world war to travel through Europe, Central America, Mexico and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).

Jane Bowles was born in New York on 22 February 1917. Her most well-known work includes the novel Two Serious Ladies, about which Tennessee Williams once said, “My favourite book. I can’t think of a modern novel that seems more likely to become a classic.”

When she and Paul came to Malaga, Jane was already very ill. In fact on her arrival in Malaga doctors diagnosed her with manic-depressive psychosis.

Despite her illness, she is said to have taken short outings to stroll around Malaga and drink at La Cosmopolita café. She stayed at the legendary Malaga Palacio hotel where she received visits from friends and acquaintances.

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On several occasions she was admitted to the clinic of Dr Ortiz Ramos and in the spring of 1970 she suffered a stroke that kept her bedridden until her death on 4 May 1973.

In April 2010 a black granite tombstone was placed on her grave at the San Miguel cemetery and on 4 May 2023 a tribute was held at her graveside to mark the 50th anniversary of her death. Representatives from the city hall, artists, poets, writers and others gathered to remember her.

Jane and Paul Bowles, who was also a famous writer, met in New York in the 1930s and married in 1938, but had an open relationship which is well-documented. Paul Bowles died in Tangiers in 1999.