Halloween
Although not an occasion historically celebrated in Spain, Halloween is gradually gaining popularity, drawing more and more people into the spooky spirit each year.
Every year now, the streets of Malaga are especially busy with families and those who are young at heart donning extravagant costumes.
As ever, the people of Malaga love to celebrate with good humour, dressing up either in slasher-movie-style gore or in a satirical interpretation of current events (much like during Carnival).
Halloween parties in Malaga
As Halloween falls on the night before the November 1st national holiday (and therefore, people don’t have to work the next day), the majority of the city’s nightclubs and venues are open for the occasion.
Most put on special themed evenings where fancy dress is strongly encouraged.
Noisy house parties are also quite common on the evening of Halloween.
Plenty of events for the kids
That said, Halloween in Malaga is very family-oriented.
Two of the city’s largest shopping centres, Larios Centro and La Rosaleda, organise various Halloween events for younger children in the days leading up to 31 October, including puppet shows, face painting, traditional Mexican-style decorations, and other workshops.
For the older ones, Muelle Uno marina in Malaga Port is a popular destination on Halloween night itself, with a photocall for costumed visitors.
The square in front of the pharmacy also hosts several events, including a concert, while children are encouraged to enjoy “trick or treating” at the stores in the shopping area.
The Botanical Gardens also like to get in on it every Halloween and organise a series of themed nights, which include themed family treasure hunts.
La Noche en Negro in Soho
Likewise, the Soho district of the city gets into the Halloween spirit every year, with many local businesses competing to put on the scariest window displays.
This is in aid of the increasingly popular La Noche en Negro (generally held on the weekend closest to Halloween).
Again, there are costume contests, face painting, children’s games and a trick-or-treat route.
Is “trick or treating” popular in Malaga?
Besides the organised routes, on the whole, “trick or treating” is still a foreign concept in Malaga.
While your doorbell may ring once or twice, the nature of apartment buildings and residential complexes in the area makes it much more challenging to go door to door in search of candy.
So, no need to stock up on sweet goodies ahead of time!
Daryl is the co-founder of Malaga Guru. He is a copywriter, editor and translator who moved to Malaga a decade ago having first fallen in love with the city on his Erasmus year. After working for many years at local expat newspaper SUR in English, Daryl gained expert knowledge in life from the perspective of foreign residents and decided to co-found this site in 2016.