Culture vultures descend on Malaga city centre to enjoy Noche en Blanco events

Cristina Pinto

Malaga

Monday, 12 May 2025, 10:32

As promised, this year's free La Noche en Blanco (white night) arts and culture festival, which was staged last Saturday evening, was dedicated to Malaga-born poet and artist Rafael Pérez Estrada. The fantasy-filled universe of the author, who died 25 years ago, took to the streets of Malaga and the city's cultural sites to create a memorable evening, with characteristic drawings and poetry on every corner, including Calle Larios.

As always, Malaga's city centre was filled with people, which guaranteed a pleasurably vivid atmosphere, but it was particularly animated on this 10 May, with queues at museums and venues and 150 activities from 8pm to 1am.

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Five hours of exhibitions, street art, dance, music, art installations, photography, technology, theatre and workshops from different categories for all tastes: 43 activities in Art, Museums and Exhibitions; 13 in Performing Arts; 38 activities dedicated to Music and Dance; eight Street Art shows; 11 Audiovisual; 16 activities in the Nochecita en Blanco; three in the category 'And you can also see'; and 14 extraordinary visits programmed in museums and cultural sites of the city.

It was impossible to visit everything, but many people from Malaga and other cities, and even countries, had their route marked out. Alejandra Arteaga and Natalia Liquete were some of the first people to go to the Nochecita en Blanco - the space dedicated to the little ones. "We can't miss it. The whole programme is great, which is why we came after making sure we knew what time each activity was," they said while waiting in Soho for their children, Florencia and Oliver, to finish the workshop 'Mural Quiromántico'. "Before this, we were on the tourist bus and we still have a few more workshops with the children, then we'll go to see some of the open-air concerts," they said.

The Plaza de la Constitución, the Marina, the Obispo, Patio de las Cadenas, Eduardo Ocón and Muelle Uno were some of the most visited spots, where special stages had been built for various displays of music and culture. "Sometimes, we see this on any given day and we don't stop, but look at the crowds today," said Mario Jiménez from the Plaza de la Marina during the concert by one of the young pianists from the Conservatorio Superior.

REA Danza's show 'Seducción y Bestialidad' was the centrepiece at the Plaza de la Constitución, with four performances starting at 9.30pm. At the Mucac, the two performances of 'Carroza' - an urban dance work presented by Ventura Díaz and Pedro Ocaña - explored the essence of the body and emotion from the roots to the contemporary. "What you see is something that I will probably never do again, because I am showing you part of the process. I am showing you what I am now, but I don't know what I will be tomorrow. We are lucky and we are part of the art," said Díaz after the first part of the show.

One of the biggest attractions was the 'Inmersión Pérezestradiana' installation, which merged technology and artificial intelligence to allow visitors to enter the mind of Rafael Pérez Estrada. The installation, located at the municipal archive, could be heard reciting 'Y así es Málaga' ('And so is Malaga') with the author's voice: "And so is Malaga / Half jasmine and half breeze / Half dove and half messenger seagull / Half lip and half petal / A heart pierced by a biznaga of tireless dawns." The surrealist piece is work by Malaga company Margarito Estudio. "We wanted to introduce the public, even before they entered the building," said Daniela Setién from Margarito Estudio.

The city council's Patio de Banderas was turned into a photographic studio by the first portrait photographer of the Casa Real - Estela de Castro - and photographer Edu Rosa. Each with their own set, they did not stop photographing the attendees, who had registered in advance, booking all the spots in a matter of hours. Families could have their portraits taken, motivated by De Castro's desire to keep the act of taking family photos alive during the era of selfies.

The Noche en Blanco museum tradition also returned. People of all ages did not stop queueing from 8pm onwards. "We were going to come this morning, but the hotel told us that today was the Noche en Blanco, so we've taken the opportunity to visit now. There's a great atmosphere," said parents Peter and Lina while waiting to enter with their children.

The festival was still going strong at midnight, just a little bit before the closing time.