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The Quiet Places of Spain

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This week's video means more to me than most. It's a return to why I started making travel videos in the first place.

If you go back to one of my very first ones, the day I hopped on a train along the coast and rode it down to Fuengirola, that trip was simple. I got on, I went, and I saw what came of it. No script, no real plan, just the fun of the adventure and the joy of sharing it afterward. That's the feeling I've been wanting to get back to.

So that's what this new series is about. Spontaneous trips, the kind I genuinely enjoy, with a focus on the quieter, lesser-known corners of Spain. Some will be right here in Málaga, others in the towns nearby. Part of it is a way to push myself to keep exploring the country I actually live in, and part of it is simply to bring you along.

Here's the funny part about this first one. It started as a small piece of a much bigger video. But while I was filming, and especially once I wrapped, I realized the shoot could stand on its own. It worked far better as its own video than as a section buried inside another. That's what convinced me to make it, and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

A City on the Edge of its Seat

There's something in the air in Málaga right now, and for once it has nothing to do with the weather. The city's football club, Málaga CF, is closing in on a return to La Liga, Spain's top division and the same league as Real Madrid and Barcelona.

That return would mean a lot here. Málaga were a top-flight club not so long ago, even reaching the Champions League quarter-finals back in 2013. Then the money behind the club dried up, and they were relegated in 2018. A few years later they slipped all the way down to the third tier. Climbing back has been a slow road. They returned to the second division in 2024, and now they're in the promotion playoff final with a real chance to go the rest of the way.

You can feel it walking around the city. Málaga jerseys everywhere, flags hanging off balconies, that particular kind of hope that takes hold when a town gets behind a team that represents it. Having grown up playing soccer myself, it's been special to watch. The passion for football here is something you feel in a way I never quite did back in the States. However it ends, it's a reminder of how much a team can mean to a place.

A Night at the Circus

No Sabor de España this week. Instead, something a bit different.

Cirque du Soleil came to Málaga for the first time, with their show Kurios, and I got to go with a few friends. The last time I saw Cirque du Soleil I was a kid, in Las Vegas, at their tribute to The Beatles. So seeing them here, in the city I now call home, was its own kind of full circle.

The show was a steampunk world of mystery and wonder, the sort of night that's hard to put into words and easy to get lost in. What struck me almost as much as the performance was what it said about Málaga. A production like this coming here at all is a sign of how much the city has grown and how much it now draws. It was a spectacular night, the kind you hold onto.

Sabor de España returns next week.

Before you go

That's it for this week. If you watched the new video, I'd love to know what you thought, and whether you want to see more of these quieter, spontaneous trips. Just leave a comment on the video, or email me at hello@evanthewayfarer.com.

I'll see you on the trail.

Evan