Málaga Film Festival 2027: Film Locations and Costa del Sol Day Trips

Málaga makes a film trip easy to plan. The city and its port have been used as sets for several productions, so a festival week can be paired with a walk past the places you have seen on screen. The 30th Festival de Málaga, whose full name is Festival de Cine en Español, runs from 26 February to 7 March 2027, which gives you ten days to plan around it.

This guide separates the filming locations a source ties to a production from the leads that rest on a single list or blog. Prices come from the Viator availability check of 17 October 2026, and anything we could not confirm is marked as such.

The 30th Festival de Málaga: dates, venues and tickets

The official festival site dates the 30th edition from 26 February to 7 March 2027, in a news item published on 10 June 2026. That item is the reference to trust, because the homepage did not show the dates when we checked. Use the bare domain, festivaldemalaga.com. The www version returned a certificate error, so bookmark the address without www.

Three venues carry the festival. The Teatro Cervantes is the main room for screenings and encounters, and the Teatro Echegaray is a second room. The Cine Albéniz is the venue the official site calls the seat of the festival. A fourth site, Villa del Mar at La Malagueta, appears on one listing site only, so we have left it out. Confirm the room printed in the programme for each screening, because that is the only reliable place to go.

The official site has a ticket sales section, but none of the pages we opened showed a price, and we have not written one in this guide. Ticket prices change from one edition to the next, so a figure from 2026 would be the wrong reference. Check the sales page when it opens, and compare any reseller price with the official one before you pay.

The previous edition ran from 6 to 15 March 2026, according to a festival listing site. That fits a March calendar, but it does not confirm the 2027 dates, which come from the official news item.

Málaga’s film spots you can walk

These are the city-centre locations we could verify. For each one, we name the production, the source behind it and how far to trust it. Most of our sources give no street number, so we describe the spots by name, and we flag the leads that rest on a single source.

Calle Alcazabilla and the old port (Fire Over Africa, 1954). The Málaga Film Office lists Calle Alcazabilla, the former Bar El Refugio, the old vehicle entrance to the port, the Palmeral de las Sorpresas and the Muelle Uno among the places used for this 1954 film. The film is more than seventy years old, so the best use of these spots is a comparison: the same streets and the same port, seen today. The Muelle Uno also appears on a locator list for the series Cuerpo de élite, which makes it the best-supported spot in this group. From the Alcazaba, the hill fortress that overlooks the port, you can read the city before you walk down to the water.

Plaza de la Merced (Genius: Picasso). This is the square where Picasso was born. Number 15 is now a museum and the seat of the Fundación Pablo Ruiz Picasso. Wikipedia confirms that the second season of Genius: Picasso was shot in Málaga from November 2017, for more than five months. The link between that shoot and this particular square comes from a locator list and a Film Office summary, so treat it as reported by the press rather than documented. The square is a good starting point for a Picasso walk even without the series.

Museo Picasso Málaga (no film link, but on the same walk). The museum opened on 17 October 2003 in a building of 8,300 square metres that brings together 18 former houses in the old Jewish quarter. It stands on calle San Agustín, about 200 metres from the Plaza de la Merced. Published counts of the works on display vary between sources, so we have left that figure out.

Teatro Cervantes (La Reina del Sur). The Teatro Cervantes is both a festival venue and a film location: a locator list ties it to the series La Reina del Sur. That is one source, so treat it as a lead. It is also the easiest overlap on this list, because you are going there for a screening anyway.

Jardín Botánico La Concepción (El Ministerio del Tiempo). The garden appears on a locator list and in a Film Office summary for the 2017 season of El Ministerio del Tiempo. It is a visitable garden with its own ticketing, which sets it apart from the prison below. Hours and prices change, so check them on the garden’s official page before you plan the day around it.

The old provincial prison (Black Mirror). The Olive Press reported in June 2017 that Black Mirror used the old provincial prison of Málaga for scenes of its fourth season. The episode “Black Museum” was shot over about a month in Spain and Nevada, according to Wikipedia, which does not name the Spanish site. Our sources give no address, and the building is not presented as a visitable location. Treat it as a fan reference, not a stop on your route.

Leads from a single list. Two more spots rest on one locator list each: the district of Pedregalejo, tied to La que se avecina, and the Baños del Carmen, tied to Malaka. Use them as walks to check on the day, not as confirmed sets. Calle Larios appears on many walking routes, but we found no production tied to it, so it is not in the film map.

Getting around Málaga without losing a screening

The city-centre spots sit close to one another, so walking is the cheapest way to link them. If you have less time, or want an overview before you start walking, a two-hour Segway tour covers the monumental centre and lets you decide which spots to return to on foot.

For the day trips, a car gives you the most control. Check drive times on a route planner, and check the timetables for your travel day, because services change by season and by day of the week.

Along the coast and into the hinterland

Outside the city, the list narrows, and every stop below has at least one source behind it. Ronda, Antequera and Nerja each justify a full day. Tabernas is the outlier, because of the distance. The coast itself is a string of resort towns, Fuengirola among them, and its seafront promenades are an easy way to see the sea between sessions.

Ronda (Las siete esferas). The Netflix miniseries Las siete esferas, an adaptation of Agatha Christie, was released on 15 January 2026, and two sources agree that it was shot in Ronda. The detail of the locations comes from a Ronda travel blog that followed the series, so treat the list as a starting point. It names the bullring (plaza de toros), the Puente Nuevo, the gardens and water mine of the Palacio del Rey Moro, the Plaza Duquesa de Parcent, the Baños Árabes and streets of the San Francisco quarter.

Antequera (Warrior Nun, El Torcal). The Real Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor served as the courtyard and interiors of Warrior Nun, Netflix’s 2020 series, where the show places the seat of the Order of the Cruciform Sword. The series also shot scenes in its first season at El Torcal de Antequera, a karst landscape of limestone formations. Two sources agree on both sites, one a travel blog and one a locator list. Antequera is a day trip from Málaga, and the guided tour of the dolmens and El Torcal lasts four hours.

Nerja and Calahonda (Verano azul and All Inclusive). The Spanish Wikipedia entry for Verano azul, the TVE series first broadcast on 11 October 1981, lists Nerja and Vélez-Málaga among its filming places. The Olive Press reported in 2013 that the rocks at Calahonda, on Nerja’s coast, were used for the hippie commune in the film All Inclusive, and that they appear in Verano azul as well. Keep two things apart: the park and the replica of the boat in Nerja are tributes to the series, not filming sites.

Tabernas (For a Few Dollars More). Oasys MiniHollywood, in the Tabernas desert of Almería province, is a village built in 1965 by Sergio Leone for For a Few Dollars More, according to the Spain Film Commission. National Geographic places Lawrence of Arabia (1962), the Dollars trilogy and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in the wider Tabernas area rather than in the village itself. From Málaga, the drive takes about 2 hours 25 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes, for roughly 222 to 227 kilometres.

We left Mijas and Marbella out of the film map. The sources we checked mention productions there without a location we could confirm. Torremolinos (The Paradise) and Benalmádena (Los Maites, for Brigada Costa del Sol) each appear on one locator list, so they belong on your list of things to check, not in your plan.

Excursions compared: which tour for which profile

The table covers the excursions checked against the festival window, 26 February to 7 March 2027. Prices are per person for two adults, as returned on 17 October 2026. They move with the date and group size, so treat them as a reference, not a quote.

First visit, short budget. Start with the Alcazaba visit, which has 1,649 reviews and opens on all ten days of the window, and add the Discover Málaga walk on a second morning. Together they cost €37 per person, which is less than a single Ronda tour.

Festival-goer with evening screenings. Keep the day light. Take the Segway tour in the morning, leave the afternoon free, and save the evening crawl for a night without a session.

Film fan with one day. Choose Antequera for Warrior Nun or Ronda for Las siete esferas. Antequera is the cheaper option at €45 for four hours. Ronda is the shorter one, at €97.97 for 90 to 110 minutes, and it takes you into the gorge.

Food first. The daytime tapas walk is the longer and more substantial option. The evening crawl is the shorter one and suits a free night.

A full day out of town. Nerja is the longest tour on the list, and it runs on only four of the ten days in the window. Book it once the date is firm.

Mobility concerns. The Segway and the buggy are vehicle formats. The product pages we used do not describe the physical requirements in detail, so ask the operator before you book.

Eating between screenings

Two tapas tours make up the food option: a daytime walk of three and a half hours and an evening crawl of three hours. Both open on eight of the ten festival days. Only the evening crawl fits a night without a session.

Budget

The costs below use the Viator prices for two adults in the festival window. They leave out festival tickets, because no 2027 price is published, and they leave out museum entries, whose prices we did not verify.

• Free: walking the city-centre spots and public squares, including the Plaza de la Merced and the streets of Calle Alcazabilla.
• Lowest cost: the Alcazaba visit at €18 and the Discover Málaga walk at €19 per person.
• Mid-range: the Antequera tour at €45, the Segway tour at €55 to €59, the evening crawl at €70.30 and the tapas walk at €69 to €75.
• Top of the list: the Nerja semi-private tour at €90 and the Ronda gorge tour at €97.97.
• Ways to save: book one day trip rather than two, pick Antequera over Ronda if the budget is tight, and combine the Alcazaba visit with the Discover Málaga walk instead of the Segway.

Prices are quoted for two adults. A solo traveller should check the figure shown on each product page, since the rate can differ.

Field advice and mistakes to avoid

• Check the room printed in the programme before you walk to a screening
• Use the bare domain festivaldemalaga.com for the official site
• Treat every single-source location as a lead, and confirm it on a map before you go
• Plan Tabernas as a full day by car, roughly 2 hours 25 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes each way
• Do not expect the old provincial prison to be open to visitors
• Do not photograph the Nerja park or the boat replica as if they were film sites
• Book the Nerja tour only for one of its four open days
• Leave a margin before an evening screening on the Ronda tour, which confirms in two steps

A two- or three-day plan around the festival

Day 1: the city. Begin with the Alcazaba visit, which takes one hour and 20 minutes, then walk down to the old port and look for the Muelle Uno and the former vehicle entrance named in the 1954 film’s locations. After lunch, go to the Plaza de la Merced to see the square where Picasso was born, then the Museo Picasso Málaga, after checking its hours. In the evening, book a screening at the Teatro Cervantes if the programme has one, or the evening tapas crawl on a night without one.

Day 2: a day out of town. Pick either Ronda or Antequera. For Ronda, take the 90 to 110 minute gorge tour and look for the Puente Nuevo and the other Las siete esferas locations on the blog list if time allows. For Antequera, take the four-hour dolmens and El Torcal tour, then visit the Real Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor if it is open to visitors that day. Return in time for an evening session only if the drive times allow.

Day 3: the coast or a slow morning in town. If the Nerja tour runs on your date, one of its four open days, take it. At seven hours it is the longest tour in this guide, so keep the rest of the day light. Otherwise, take the Segway tour in the morning and spend the afternoon at the Jardín Botánico La Concepción, after checking its hours on the official page.

Choose one film, one walk and one day trip, and keep one afternoon free. That balance suits a festival week better than a packed programme.