La Concepción botanical gardens
The Jardín Botánico-Histórico La Concepción, Malaga’s Botanical Gardens, is just a 15-minute drive from the historic centre and is the perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of city life.
When visiting this green oasis, spread across a magnificent three-hectare plot, you can scarcely believe you’re in a major city. You are immediately immersed in an almost tropical jungle, with soothing streams and an abundance of flowers.
In fact, in 1990, when the estate became the property of the city hall, researchers created a plant inventory. It comprised an impressive 25,000 plants belonging to approximately 2,000 different species from five continents. The majority are either tropical or subtropical.
Special events at Malaga botanical gardens
Besides the gardens, there are also a number of historic buildings you can visit, including the Casa Palacio (Palace House) and the Casa del Administrador (Administrator’s House).
These are often the focal points of special events or exhibitions which are organised at La Concepción throughout the year.
In recent years, themed nighttime shows have been put on to celebrate events such as Halloween and Christmas.
To find out what’s on, click here.
The history of La Concepción
The garden was originally created by the Marquises of the House of Loring, Jorge Loring Oyarzabal and Amalia Heredia Livermore. Both were born to well-known businessmen who came to the city to make their fortunes.
The idea for the garden originally came to them after they had visited a series of palaces, villas, parks, estates and botanical gardens during their honeymoon in Europe seven years earlier.
To bring it to life, they enlisted the services of a French gardener, Jacinto Chamoussent, whose skilled selection and acclimatisation of exotic plants was subsequently rewarded with numerous prizes.
In 1911, La Concepción was sold to a couple from Bilbao, Rafael Echevarria and Amalia Echevarrieta. Together, they expanded the garden, adding new features such as the Nymph’s Stream, the ‘palm tree avenue’ and the viewpoint which overlooks the city.
They also introduced numerous contemporary sculptures between the garden areas, adding to the existing archaeological exhibits.
After their death, Amalia’s brother, Horacio Echevarrieta, took over La Concepción, which he maintained in perfect condition. When he died in 1963, this marked the beginning of a period of decline for the estate, whose buildings and gardens subsequently became abandoned.
In 1990, Malaga city council purchased the estate for 600 million pesetas (€3,606,073).
Getting to Malaga Botanical Gardens
The easiest way to reach the Botanical Gardens is by taxi (around 10-15 euros from the city centre).
However, if you take the number 2 bus from the Alameda, the final stop on the line is just a 10-minute walk from the entrance.
For up-to-date information on opening hours and entry, click here.
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.