Cheap car hire Malaga Blog
Malaga car hire tips and general advice

Malaga is the world’s first destination chosen by the British in January, according to a study published by the travel search engine Skyscanner Europe, based on the number of searches for cheap flights last month to departures from the UK.
According to the document, Spain dominates the classification of searches done in January and Malaga stands as a leader.

Four cities in the country followed in the top ten: Alicante ranks second, third Tenerife, Palma de Mallorca the fifth and Lanzarote the eighth. In this decade are also Faro (Portugal), London (United Kingdom), New York (USA), Dalaman (Turkey) and Amsterdam (Netherlands).
For Skyscanner, the presence of so many Spanish destinations in the top positions offers evidence that the sun and beaches remains a top priority for British travelers. However, the presence of flights to London, New York and Amsterdam indicate that remain regular trips to the big cities. The other Spanish cities among the 50 most wanted by the British are Barcelona, Murcia, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Fuerteventura and Gerona.

6.000 square metres of bars, cafes and restaurants and 2.800 square metres of shops: Malaga Airport will become, after its enlargement, a shopping center of first order, with an irresistible attraction for any brand that boasts: over ten million visitors a year can become twenty. The lucky ones have already been selected.
Some of the brands that will land at the Airport Pablo Ruiz Picasso in Malaga are
unprecedented in Spain, as Caviar House & Prunier, a restaurant focused on more sybaritic tastes, or Whopper Bar, an innovative concept of burger that Burger King recently launched and of which there are only two stores in the world today: one in Florida and one in Munich. The American coffee chain Starbucks has also chosen the airport grounds to make her debut in the province.
In the commercial arena highlights the incorporation of a National Geographic store, which will be the first one in the world of this brand located at an airport. Moreover, the new terminal in Malaga will feature Ferrari after repeating its success in Barcelona. Adidas, Adolfo Dominguez, Cottet and Swarovski, among other firms, will be their neighbors.
Special mention deserves the Moraga Airport, a restaurant of local top chef Dani Garcia, awarded with a Michelin star.
5.880 square metres of the new terminal will be dedicated to bars and restaurants such as Soho Coffee, Caviar House, Caffee Ritazza, Pizza Hut, Burger King, O’Leary’s, Starbucks, La Moraga Airport, Whopper Bar, Vips, Upper Crust, Gambrinus, Dehesa Santa María, Café y Té, La Lechera, Guinness, Dehesa Santa María and Gambrinus.

Within a few months will be operational the new passenger terminal T3 in the airport Malaga.
This massive building, designed by architect Bruce S. Fairbanks and covered by 117 pyramidal domes which are visible from outside the airport, is already being put to the test with 4.000 bags brought from Barcelona, where the served for testing the billing system in T1, and 3.000 extras who are playing the part of passengers arriving and leaving, in order to verify that everything works as it should.
It will be checked upon the clear signs to guide the travelers, if the security measures are sufficiently flexible or bags come in a timely fashion to the passenger. The idea is that this new terminal should be operational before the start of next Easter, beginning on March 28.

This terminal has 250.000 square meters and is divided into three parts: the processor building, the boarding area and transport exchanging area.
The processor building contains the check-in lobby of nearly 20.000 square metres. There will be 86 check-in counters; a large area of centralized security gives way to a shopping plaza in which passengers will walk before reaching the docks of embarkation. At about 18,000 square meters will be distributed 24 stores of leading brands and 21 restaurants and bars.

In this area will be present such prestigious brands as National Geographic, which will open its first store in an airport in the world, while Ferrari will have its second store in a national airfield. As for restoration, there will be options for every taste, from fast food from Burger King or Pizza Hut to La Moraga Airport, the new creation of Dani Garcia, awarded with the Michelin star, blending traditional cooking with the chef’s innovations.
From the T3 passengers can connect with the suburban railway station or bus station. Also under construction are two new exclusive access roads to the airport: one for the north, which will come from the new ring road west and another to the south, from the Mediterranean motorway N-340.
One year later, in late 2011, will start operating the second track, now under construction, which will have a peak performance of 74 flight operations per hour.

With all these enhancements, and after an investment of 1,400 million Euros, which will expand the airport surface of 135.000 square meters to 385.000, the airport will have capacity to serve 30 million passengers a year. However, as a consequence of the crisis, this facility has closed 2009 with only 11.6 million passengers, 9.3% less than in 2008, when it also experienced declines.
Despite these declines, some headlines point to optimism: Ryanair has already announced that, concurrent with the launch of the T3, the company will launch 19 new routes from Malaga.

Although the descent of the temperature differs a lot in comparison to other parts of Andalusia and the Spanish Peninsula, the coming weekend locals and visitors in Málaga will have to endure a sudden temperature drop between 6 and 8 degrees with chilly northern winds and minimum temperatures around 3ºC. The State Metrological Agency has activated today yellow alert (risk) for the whole province.
The rainstorm hitting Andalusia since last night provoked flooding in basements, streets and garages in Malaga city and neighboring villages and the closure of 23 community roads, the temporary interruption of the railway line between Sevilla and Huelva and the closure of the ski resort of Sierra Nevada due to wind gusts of over 120 miles per hour.
The airports belong as well to the weak points in the infrastructure where happened already setbacks, especially in Madrid Barajas, after the last snowfall. Currently, Madrid Barajas doesn´t record any incidents and all four runways are open. Nevertheless, strong snowfalls and temperatures below cero are expected for the next days, thus weather conditions can lead to delays.
As a positive aspect we can mention that the strong precipitations in Andalusia have left in several points more than 700 liters per square meter, which has allowed a spectacular advance of stocks in reservoirs.
The water stored in the reservoirs in the Mediterranean Basin composed of the provinces of Málaga, Almería, Granada and Cádiz guarantee the supply during 2010 and part of 2011.

The new terminal of the airport Malaga will be operative from second trimester of 2010

The area will have capacity to operate 30 million passengers a year.

The public works of the new terminal of the airport Málaga, that implies a total inversion of more than 1.100 million Euros, will be finished by 2010.

The new terminal has a surface of about 250.000 squaremetres and will be united to the terminal Pablo Ruiz Picasso (T2), forming one single building.

The edifice will dispose of 86 check-in counters and 20 boarding doors that will permit to attend a dozen aircrafts in connection and eight remotely. Moreover, it will permit operating 7.500 pieces of luggage an hour.

Once finished the works and once realized the necessary tests, the whole area of the airport will be able to operate 9.000 passengers the hour, what implies duplicating the actual capacity.

Apart from the new terminal, actually there are Works going for the extension of the landing field, with a second runway.

As well there are construction works to increase the actual transportation system of the Malaga suburban train, contemplating the improvement of access to the airport, both by train and motorway.