The Crossing-Malaga Spain

We departed Cadiz, Spain at 8PM on April 3 to make the short trip (154 nautical miles) to Malaga, Spain on the Costa del Sol. Although a short trip it is noteworthy because we pass through the Strait of Gibraltar to enter the Mediterranean Sea. Unfortunately this occured at midnight in the dark so we chose to ignore it. We arrived at daybreak around 7AM. Malaga has a completely new harbor for receiving cruise ships and it is much like a new airport including pneumatic gateways that extend out to the ship.





It was Easter Sunday in Malaga and our ship's crew had not overlooked a special gesture in our cabin to commemorate the occasion. It did not match the daily processionals of Cadiz during Holy week but it shows the level of service on the Mariner:






Among the many interesting excursions available in Malaga we chose to make an 80 mile coach trip to visit Alhambra and Granada in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Perhaps ironic on an Easter Sunday to visit Granada which was the capital of Spain during the 11th Century when it was under Muslim rule. Alhambra sits on a high peak overlooking the walled city of Grenada.

Alhambra meaning "the Red One" was built over the four centuries from the 1100's to the 1400's until it was again conquered by the Christian king and queen Isabel and Fernando. (Some religious conflicts just seem to keep repeating). Alhambra served as their favorite court. The Alhambra served as the administrative center as well as the residence for the Muslim regime for their nearly 400 year reign. It is estimated nearly 4000 residents occupied the Alhambra while almost 40,000 lived in the walled city of Granada below the Alhambra.

The complex includes several castles built over the period as well as lavish landscaped gardens. A private retreat for the Sultan and his attendants (some might say harem or concubines) occupies a nearby area known as Generalife. It includes private gardens, reflecting ponds and summer like palace.

All of this sits in a walled complex which served as a fortress for the first Muslim sultan, the Nazarene dynasty, during the 9th Century. Subsequent sultans expanded the Alhambra adding castles and administrative structures. In later additions innovative heating and cooling was added via a small water sluice system and structural elements to capture either heat or cool depending on the seasons.




Carlos V, successor to Isabela and Ferdinand the Catholic rulers who overtook the Muslim Alhambra added a beautiful palace to the complex in the 15th Century but never occupied it or returned to Alhambra to witness its completion.







The structures are elaborately detailed for the time using a stucco and mold system to produce spectacular wall and cupola detailing.







Granada and the Alhambra sit in the foothills just below "White Mountain" in the Sierra Nevada range. You can see in this photo it is snow capped even in the summer and provides the water which was critical to the Muslim era yet in a hospitable year around climate.








It was a provocative sidetrip through some beautiful countryside in modern Spain today filled with olive and fruit orchards.





Our visit left several impressions: the Muslim/Christian conflict is deep rooted; the Muslim dynasties were quite advanced in technology and administration skills for the times; the powerful always live a lifestyle separate from the masses and are the Muslim dynasties of today making the same mistakes of their forbears by walling in their wealth?

Lee