“I paint not what I see, but what I feel”
—Pablo Picasso.
Malaga is the living embodiment of art. It is little wonder that we set eyes on this region to develop The Wine & Country Club. A land rich in culture, Malaga is the birthplace of artists of the stature of Pablo Picasso and Antonio Banderas, among others. But Malaga has also been—and will continue to be—the cradle of many illustrious names in history. Of all art forms and fields, the Costa del Sol is a national and international benchmark that exports musicians, actors, painters, writers, athletes and even comedians who will always remain in the Spanish collective memory.
When it comes to cinema, some celebrity names spring to mind: the one and only Antonio Banderas along with award-winning Antonio de la Torre, the always endearing Pepa Flores (aka. Marisol), Maria Barranco (The Girl of Your Dreams or Witching & Bitching), Pablo Puyol (Upa Dance), Fran Perea (who, aside from being an actor, is also a musician) and Pepon Nieto (Los Hombres de Paco).
Moving on to the music scene, the talent of Miguel de Molina—one of the forerunners of the copla (a Spanish folk song)—merits a chapter of his own. Antonio Molina, who was also an actor, has gone down in history as the composer of his popular Soy minero song. Years later, Malaga names of the likes of Pablo Alboran, Pablo Lopez, Vanessa Martin, Pasion Vega, Diana Navarro, and band such as Chambao and Danza Invisible have topped the charts.
Literature greats such as poets Vicente Espinel, Emilio Prados and Manuel Altolaguirre; essayist Maria Zambrano; and writers Antonio Soler—winner of the Premio Nadal—, and Pablo Aranda all hail from Malaga soil.
As for painting, the forever remembered Pablo Picasso deserves specific mention. Although he was a great representative of Cubism, he also dipped his toes into other cultural movements such as Surrealism. Prior to that, Picasso went through the Blue Period and the Pink Period, where his work was strongly influenced by his close relationship with Paris. Arguably Picasso’s most famous work, Guernica is an historic picture dating from the pinnacle of Pablo Picasso’s celebrated career. This masterpiece is his depiction of the 1937 German bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.
And from the paint brush to sculpture… Jaime Pimentel, Miguel Berrocal and Fernando Ortiz (18th century) are a story in themselves.
Malaga has also yielded enormous dressmaking, patter designing and haute couture talents, among which, the late David Delfin, Gemma Mele, Jesus Segado, Javier Alcantara, Angel Palazuelos, Susana Hidalgo, Rafael Urquizar y Montesco (Carlos Aguirre and Mario Camino).
From needle and thread to stand-up comedy, also worthy of mention are the irreverent Chiquito de la Calzada, Angel Garo, Mocito Feliz, Dani Rovira, and the twosome Duo Sacapuntas.
Malaga’s burgeoning culinary scene has engendered famous faces such as chef Dani Garcia, Jose Carlos Garcia and Diego Gallegos.
Malaga has also spawned some big names in the world of sports, among which, World Basketball champions Berni Rodriguez and Carlos Cabezas, and famous footballers such as Juanito and Fernando Hierro.
Ronda’s Leading Lights
Within the boundaries of Malaga province, Ronda is one of the most outstanding cities, not only owing to its impressive Roman bridge or for being the white-hot heart of a project as innovative as The Wine & Country Club, but also because it has been the home of remarkable national names.
Ronda exudes art from every pore. Take for instance pure Andalusian art and the name Cristobal Palmero Tobalo quickly comes to mind as one of those responsible for the cante payo (gorgio folk singing) and rondeños. For her part, Aniya La Gitana, nicknamed “La e Ronda” (the one from Ronda), is a cantaora(Flamenco singer) and guitarist, and the aunt of Carmen Amaya—a highly recognised 20th century dancer. The much acclaimed Flamenco guitarist Diego Amaya concludes the list.
Also worthy of mention is Pedro Perez-Clotet, a poet who was part of the influential group Generation of ’27 that arose in Spanish literary circles between 1923 and 1927, essentially out of a shared desire to experience and work with avant-garde forms of art and poetry. His are some of the best-known popular rondeña lyrics.
For its part, haute cuisine is proud to flaunt Ronda’s two Michelin stars thanks to the fine work of Benito Gomez and his gourmet temple—Bardal.
We reserve a final word for the Ordoñez family, who is notoriously known in the bullfighting milieu.