Cervantes Theatre Malaga
The Cervantes Theatre of Malaga was inaugurated in 1870, because years before, the main theatre of Malaga, the emblematic theatre of Liberty suffered a fire for unknown reasons.
Shortly afterwards, a group of art and culture lovers from Malaga decided to start the construction of this magnificent theatre.
Cervantes Theatre of Malaga, history and curiosities
It must be understood that at that time the theatre in Malaga was booming, as the city was going through a prosperous period economically.
This was caused by the great growth of agriculture, the textile sector and the great importance of the port of Malaga, which increased the upper middle class, which showed a great interest in culture and in this case the theatre.
When the Teatro de la Libertad burned down, this sector of society promoted the construction of a new theatre in Malaga. Thus, the Cervantes Theatre in Malaga was inaugurated on the 17th of December 1870.
The chronicles of the time comment that the first work to be performed was the symphonic version of the opera William Tell, which was attended by between 2,300 and 2,400 spectators, something unthinkable today.
Throughoutthe years the theatre suffered a gradual abandonment, which caused it to be close to being a building in ruins. In 1950 the Cervantes Theatre in Malaga underwent a major change that seriously altered both the distribution and design. But the big change was the inclusion of a booth for film projections and the theater will remain exclusively as a movie theater.
The turning point for the Cervantes theatre in Malaga came in 1984, when the city council of Malaga bought the theatre and financed its reconstruction.
The refurbishment lasted until 1987, when on April 6th the theatre was re-inaugurated with a concert by the City of Malaga Symphony Orchestra, an event attended by the Queen Emeritus Doña Sofía. Subsequently, in 2005, it was named as BIC (Bien de Interés Cultural) with the category of monument.
Teatro Cervantes Malaga and Malaga Film Festival
The Cervantes Theatre in Malaga is nowadays one of the venues of the Malaga Film Festival. Considered by many as the most important film festival held in our Spanish-speaking country. Its first edition was held in 1988, starting on March 9th and ending on the 17th of the same month.
It usually lasts about a week, usually held in the month of April, but we try to avoid coinciding with Easter as two events of this caliber at the same time would collapse the city.
In 2016 was when this festival was definitively consolidated, since the investment was increased. It reached up to three million euros and was committed to the expansion to the Spanish-speaking market and Latin America.
One of the modifications was the change of name of the festival, which, although it may seem insignificant, meant the definitive inclusion of the Latin American market. The festival changed its name from "Festival de Málaga de cine español" to "Festival de Málaga de cine en español".
The prize awarded to the winners is the golden biznaga, but what is a biznaga? If you have been to Malaga you may have seen one or know what it is. In case you don't know, it is an artificial flower made from the stem of the tuberose and hand grafted jasmine on the stem.
In the old days they were used for their pleasant smell but above all to repel mosquitoes. Today they are still sold in the city centre by the biznageros and are one of the symbols of the city.
In the following image, we can see the Malaga-born Antonio Banderas collecting the honorary Golden Biznaga in 2017.
Teatro Cervantes Málaga capacity
Many people wonder what is the capacity of the theater, the most curious thing is that the number has been reduced by half since its opening.
At the beginning of the article we told you that the inauguration was attended by between 2,300 and 2,400 people and that today it would be unthinkable.
After its numerous renovations the capacity of the Cervantes theatre was greatly reduced to try to adapt to safety regulations. Nowadays it seats about 1,200 people, which is not bad either.
Teatro Cervantes box office opening hours and tickets
The Cervantes Theatre in Malaga is located at Calle Ramos Marin 1, just two minutes walk from the Plaza de la Merced.
The opening hours of the ticket office of the Cervantes Theatre in Malaga to purchase tickets is Monday to Friday from 08:00h to 15:00h. If you prefer to make an enquiry by phone, you can do so during the same hours by calling 952-224-109.
Theatre, 2020 programming and billboard
To check the upcoming events of the Cervantes Theatre in Malaga, we recommend you to visit their website directly, but to make your search easier, we put the link so you can access directly to the events page.