Page 379 - Lonely Planet Europe’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

THE PICASSO TRAIL

Málaga and Barcelona are linked by more than Mediterranean beaches – both cities
have strong Picasso connections. The great Andalucían painter was born in Málaga
in 1881 and lived there until he was 10, while Barcelona served as his inspiration
and muse in the late 1890s and early 1900s when he intermittently resided in the
Catalan capital. As a result, the start and finish points of this trip stand as important
way-stations in Picasso’s illustrious career and are loaded with plenty of art and
artefacts to investigate.
Málaga guards the painter’s birth house, the diminutive Casa Natal de Picasso
(www.fundacionpicasso.malaga.eu; Plaza de la Merced 15; admission €3; h9.30am-8pm), which
includes a replica of his father’s erstwhile studio. Nearby, and run by the same
foundation, is the Museo Picasso Málaga (%902 44 33 77; www.museopicassomalaga.
org; Calle San Agustín 8; admission €7, incl temporary exhibition €10; h10am-8pm Tue-Thu & Sun,
to 9pm Fri & Sat), which opened in 2003. Barcelona hosts the Museu Picasso (%93
256 30 00; www.museupicasso.bcn.cat; Carrer de Montcada 15-23; adult/child €14/free, temporary SPAIN 27 MEDITERRANEAN MEANDER
exhibitions adult/child €6.50/free, 3-8pm Sun & 1st Sun of month free; hTue, Wed & Fri-Sun 9am-
7pm, to 9.30pm Thu; mJaume I), which, with over 4000 exhibits, has one of the most
complete Picasso collections in the world.
On a more modest scale, but also worth perusing as you pass through, is
Alicante’s Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (MACA; www.maca-alicante.es; Plaza
Santa María 3; h10am-8pm Tue-Sat, to 2pm Sun) displaying Picasso’s Portrait d’Arthur
Rimbaud (1960); and the Museu Cau Ferrat (www.museusdesitges.cat; Carrer de
Fonollar) in Sitges, encased in the house of Picasso’s friend, the late artist Santiago
Rusiñol.

ing villages (remember in San José offers a full
4 Cabo de Gata them?) remain low-key. range of courses.
A good nexus is San
If you can find anyone José, with its secluded The Drive » Follow the
old enough to remember beaches, including Playa AL3108 inland from San José
until you hit the A7 autovia
the Costa del Sol before de los Genoveses just (highway) just shy of Nijar. Head
the bulldozers arrived, southwest of the village. northeast towards Valencia for
they’d probably say it Footpaths run along the 43km until the exit for A370,
looked a bit like Cabo coast in either direction, signposted Mojácar.
de Gata. Some of Spain’s criss-crossing the pro-
most beautiful and tected Parque Natural
least-crowded beaches de Cabo de Gata-Nijar. 5 Mojácar
are strung between the They’re good for a short Tucked away in an
grand cliffs and capes tentative stroll or a isolated corner of one of
east of Almería City, full-blown multiday ex- Spain’s most traditional
where dark volcanic hills cursion. The area is also regions Mojácar was
tumble into a sparkling one of the best places almost abandoned in the
turquoise sea. in Andalucía for diving. mid-20th century until a
Though Cabo de Gata Isub (%950 38 00 04; www. foresighted local mayor
is not undiscovered, it isubsanjose.com; Calle Babor started luring artists and
still has a wild, elemental 8; h8.30am-2pm & 4-7.30pm others with giveaway
feel and its scattered fish- Mon-Sat, to 2pm Sun Mar-Dec) property offers. Although

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