Parque Balneario Nuestra Señora del Carmen

The Parque Balneario Nuestra Señora del Carmen sits in Málaga's eastern district, between the Avenida Pintor Joaquín Sorolla and the Mediterranean. Malagueños call it Los Baños del Carmen, and the neighbourhood around it shares the name. It opened on 16 July 1918 as a resort for the city's upper classes, built on the remains of Monte San Telmo. Where the bathhouses of that era kept swimmers behind closed walls, this one put bathing and sunshine in the open air.

It drew crowds fast, offering a pier, a restaurant and an open-air cinema screen. A tennis court followed in 1920 and hosted Málaga's first tennis tournament. By 1922 the resort also boasted the city's first football field. On a large dance floor, concerts and ballet performances made the place a hub of social and cultural life. A beach, a bar with a terrace, green spaces and two tennis courts make up the grounds today.

The restaurant serves traditional Malagueño dishes, and at weekends live flamenco plays while you look out over the water. Bathing, music and a table by the shore: that promise has held here since 1918.