West Park, North area 📷 Malaga - Spain

The place that conquered my heart when I met it, almost a year after arriving in Malaga, was this wonderful park. I was dazzled when I entered it from the very first moment.

It is a park located in the southern part of the city, very close to the sea and the promenade Antonio Banderas. Besides being located in very populated neighbourhoods of the city such as Santa Paula and La Paz.

Being unique, in my opinion, it is one of the most visited parks in the city and ideal for long walks.

The park is divided into two large areas, separated by an avenue and joined by a lake under a bridge that forms the avenue.

In this case the walk I took was in the northern part of the park. But in its totality it has an extension of 74.000 m2 and where 11.000 m2 correspond to a great lake that crosses the whole park, even under the road that divides it.

This place was not always dedicated to this park, but in the past there was what was called the Cinema Garden. Since about the 1960s.

Over the years it became clear that this large populated area needed a large park for recreation and leisure, and in the 90's it was decided to create it.

The architect who carried out the great work was Eduardo Serrano and the French style is present in the design.

Although many alterations were made to the park, it was really inaugurated in 1992. Since then it has undergone a lot of renovations and one of the biggest ones took place in 2005.

Because of this important and beautiful renovation, the park was awarded an honourable mention in a prize for the city's architecture.

The park can be reached by several bus lines from different parts of the city and has many entrances along its entire length.

One of the most interesting things about this park, always speaking of the northernmost part, is that it is divided into several areas.

One of them with paths, destined for walks around the park, but at the same time you can see many green areas, full of palm trees and other trees and bushes. Also depending on the season of the year you go, there are many flowers.

On this large and beautiful promenade we can find numerous sculptures on fantasy and mythological themes, a large number of them showing half-human half-animal figures and other sculptures of women, but without faces.

The sculptures vary in their themes and are very beautiful and eye-catching, especially with their air of fantasy.

The sheer amount of art in this park makes it feel like an open-air museum. What stands out is the state of conservation of the statues, their execution and what they inspire.

Their creator was a German called Stefan von Reiswitz and nowadays he lives here in the city.

Although it is true that it cannot compete with other parks in terms of the botanical variety of its plants and trees, the amount of green spaces, the shade, and the freshness of nature can be felt and it is beautiful.

The number of paths in this area of the park make it perfect for long walks alone, with friends or with pets and enjoy it that way.

One of the park's curiosities is that it is authorised by the Consejería de Medio Ambiente de la Junta de Andalucía to be a zoological park.

For this reason it is the only one that has this title within the city of Malaga.

Because of this we can find a great variety of birds in the place, but also fish, turtles especially in the area of the lake.

As for the variety of birds, the one that surprised me the most were the swans. There are a couple of white and black swans, although I had a hard time photographing the black ones.

Then there is a great variety of ducks, pink ibis, lovebirds and parrots among many other species.

Although I could not see any of them, there is a sign inside the park that warns about the conservation of the bats inside the park and the variety and quantity that there are.

As I said, what I liked most were the swans, which on this occasion were together, the white ones, and I could appreciate them very well.

The black swans were supposed to be in the other part of the park and on this walk they were not present.

On the other hand, a lot of seagulls and pigeons fly over the place, all the time.

For those who like sports, there is a large variety of fitness equipment on one side of the park in the northern part. There is a large sports area with a place to play football, basketball and basketball courts.

It covers an area of approximately 4,000 m2 with a wide variety of sports. In the middle of the park there is a bridge with vegetation around it and the sports area continues along one side of the park.

There is also a sports area for seniors, a large, colourful playground where children enjoy the afternoon and a huge dog park where people with larger dogs can have a play area for them.

On the other hand, there are open-air shows that are worth seeing and enjoying, in an agenda rich in events.

At the moment, being winter, the park is open from 8 am to 10 pm and as I said you can get there from any part of the city by means of the many bus lines.

A beautiful park that is worth visiting again and again and is my favourite of the whole city. A tour that I have done happy to be able to admire the nature, the animals and as close to the sea as I like.

Thank you very much to all of you for joining me. Best regards and see you next time.
Amonet.

_{All photographs are my own.
Separators created by me in Photoshop.
Used translator Deepl.com free version.
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