In the shop window there are Nativity figures, models of Easter floats, candles and rosaries. Also capirotes, gloves or Nazarene girdles. Inside, scented with incense, the shelves are full of candles. The religious connection of the premises is evident. “We have two very strong seasons: Easter and Christmas,” says José Ignacio Gonzalo, 36, who today runs Cerería Zalo as his father, grandfather and great-grandfather did before him. And before him other relatives whose roots go back to 1724. It is the oldest business in the centre of Malaga and an absolute rarity in a place surrendered to tourism. In recent years bars and restaurants have multiplied, as have franchises. In the new ecosystem traditional shops are on the verge of extinction. “Specialisation is one of the keys to survival, but also for the premises to be ours. We could not afford the huge rents that are being asked now,” admits Gonzalo.
Fernando Alonso, a 52-year-old Philology graduate, has lived in the city centre since he was a child. He lives near Plaza de la Merced and a decade ago he began to realise how quickly his surroundings were changing. “At that time, a strong process of gentrification and touristification began. People began to leave and, without this clientele, the traditional shops were closing down,” recalls the Malaga native, who works as a Language and Literature teacher at a high school in Torremolinos. He then decided to write a book that would recall the history of the oldest establishments before they disappeared. They had to be at least 50 years old. He was 34 years old and delved into their history to offer it in the book. Historic shops in Malaga (Ediciones del Genal). It was published in 2018 and, since then, eight of these businesses have closed, which represents 25% of the total. Some were centuries old, they lived during the Second Republic, during the Civil War and Franco’s regime. “They have survived everything except overcrowding. Tourism has wiped out the residents and the commerce,” he points out. He never thought that the process of closing these businesses would be so fast. Pharmacies, grocery stores and a hat shop, among a few others, are barely surviving.
Alonso believes that there are external factors that have affected it, such as the growth of large e-commerce platforms like Amazon; but he maintains that there are two keys that mark the end of these shops. The first, the shortage of neighbours: in the centre there are already more tourist apartments (4,800) than people (4,200). And, without them, there are no customers. The second, the increase in the price of rent for the premises, which reaches 20,000 euros a month, according to Idealista data. “One of the factors that has allowed us to continue is that we were able to buy ours and it is now family-owned. If they asked me for 8,000 euros a month, as happens next door, we would not be viable,” says José Ignacio Gonzalo. Cerería Zalo —which also sells online— is located on Calle Santa María, near the cathedral.
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A few metres away, the El Llavín hardware store opened its shutters every day since 1884. It was one of the 14 shops of this type that remained in the centre in the 1980s and the last to disappear. It closed in the spring of 2023. Its building will be replaced by a tourist accommodation promoted by the company Room 007 hostels and hotel. Around it there is a shop that sells nougat and sugared almonds, an ATM and half a dozen shops selling souvenirs where you can buy – among a multitude of objects – flamenco dresses, four-centilitre bottles of sangria with cork stoppers like Cordoban hats, bulls with the Spanish flag and fridge magnets in the shape of a skewer, the only things with a certain local flavour.
“The supply network is disappearing and, as with the hardware store, there are no alternatives,” laments Carlos Carrera, president of the Centro Antiguo de Málaga residents’ association, who also highlights the psychological component of the traditional shop being replaced by a franchise, a souvenir shop or lockers for tourists to store their luggage. “It is a feeling of loss, of being thrown out of your neighbourhood because it is becoming more difficult to live in every day,” he stresses. Already in 2019 a study by the Urban Environment Observatory (OMAU)a municipal body, warned that the high presence of franchises and restaurants – up to 40% of the use of ground floors – in certain blocks of the historic center was upsetting the balance. The loss of traditional commerce since then has skyrocketed and even the City Council paid tribute to them in March 2023 with an exhibition on Larios Street and a book. Of the 42 distinguished businesses, only three were in the center.
From selling espadrilles to serving brunch
“Everything is geared towards tourists, there are too many restaurants and it is an uncomfortable place to run a quick errand, but we have no choice but to get used to the new times,” says Pablo Heredia, who is the third generation of the business that his grandfather started: the Miguel Heredia watch shop. The establishment occupies a tiny space in the Plaza de la Constitución, where they put in up to 60 batteries a day and change straps. Their forte is repairs. “The repair drawer fills up every day,” says Heredia, who believes that this uniqueness is what allows them to survive. “By specialising you ensure that when people need your product, they think of you,” adds Clemente Solo de Zaldívar, who at 73 years old still goes every morning to Zaldi Hogar, a business that his family founded in 1850 and within whose walls he himself grew up.
Their sofa covers, bed sets, towels and blankets make up a showcase that is an exception in Calle Nueva, where various franchises occupy the ground floors. The upper floors are occupied by tourist apartments, which in the case of Zaldi Hogar are part of the business. “Foreigners come and buy some sheets and a couple of pillows because the apartments where they stay are not as clean as they expected,” he explains. Only de Zaldívar knows each client by name, as does his daughter, with whom he works. He also points out that the premises are his and that this is vital when, according to Idealista, there are rentals for several thousand euros nearby. Wouldn’t it be easier to close down and live off the rents? “I want to be comfortable, I love this. I have my needs and those of my family covered. Why do I want more?” he asks himself.
It was precisely the sale to an investor, together with the retirement of its owners, that led to the closure of Calzados Hinojosa last summer. With 103 years of history, it was one of the best-known businesses for its prized espadrilles. Where there used to be a counter with a cash register from 1900, there are now the tables and chairs of The Club, a business specialising in brunch – late breakfasts – where a roll with Iberian ham costs seven euros, a coffee with milk 2.70 euros and water – filtered from the public network – two euros. In recent years, the increase in rent is also behind the closure of another classic: the Café Central and its mural with the nine Malaga ways of drinking coffee, which today is replaced by a pub of Swedish origin. Nearby, the Manuel Ocón sharpening workshop has also closed and with it the classic gatherings that it held with its clients and neighbours have become extinct. “All these businesses and their owners made Málaga different from other cities. Now it has lost its essence and is the same as the rest,” concludes Fernando Alonso, somewhat sadly.
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