Train from Málaga to Sevilla is 2 - 3 hours. Maybe you could travel to Sevilla and overnight one night. You would waste one night of lodging in Torremolino, but you would have a great time!!!

Clarification.... I am female, leaving my husband and kids in the US, and not at all afraid to go back to Spain. There is a wonderful language school in Málaga, and I am returning there for two more weeks of study. That leaves me with 3 weekends to explore new areas or revisit favorites.

The big hotels will certainly have parties going, and there are countless places to visit near Málaga. Don't worry about being there when it is tranquil. The new Picasso museum should be open now. You can still wrap up and enjoy the ocean!! It will certainly be warmer than here!!

opps! Sorry sel! I already fixed that! I didn't know :p

I think Cornelio's experience of Malaga at new year may be due to bad timing. He says he was back in his hotel shortly after midnight. As Anchovy points out, nothing much happens till after midnight - most people are at home with their families, and most bars and restaurants are shut (or hosting a private party). The public party doesn't get started till after 1pm, when the bars start to open. It's the same in other Andalucian cities (I don't know about the rest of Spain). So the thing is, if you're there at new year on your own, you need to find somewhere that's open on new years eve (may be difficult) and then be patient - things do get going eventually!

I was just about to post something along those lines, Boqueron, asking if the experiences I've had in cities and towns in Southern Spain at New Year is in fact just an Andalucian thing?

We've been to Cordoba, Granada, Marbella, Estepona, San Pedro, Fuengirola etc and it's always the same, apart from Marbella, where there is probably a fifty-fifty split between foreigners and locals and the party starts early.

Many Spaniards tend to buy tickets at exhorbitant (in my opinion) prices to spend the night at a function at a hotel or restaurant. Granted the meal is usually a bit more than the normal three courses on a Saturday night job and there is usually an open bar and live music, but hey, I am talking about a couple of hundred dollars or more in some cases! How much Larios can you drink in one night??!!

What can other members tell me about the rest of Spain?

Hi El Boqueron and Anchovy Front,

Boqueron claims it was "bad timing", but it was probably a case of "bad judgement". When I booked the room at the Parador Gibralfaro in Malaga, they emailed me asking if I wanted to pay about $100, if I remember correctly, for a special New Year's Eve dinner/dance in their dining room with unlimited bubblies. I declined because as Anchovy Front mentioned, the price seemed a bit exorbitant. In restrospect, I would probably have taken that offer. I wouldn't be surprised if Anchovy Front is right and most people in Malaga probably pay big bucks to go to some club and party for New Year's. If so, then people would just stay put in one club and that would explain why there was NO bar-hopping going on in that city.

But, Cornelio, bar hopping does go on in Malaga, that's my point. I mean, I've done it a few times. But we don't leave the house (of my in-laws) till about 2 in the morning. Obviously, for anyone without a party to go to beforehand, that's a long time to be waiting around.

Parties that include dinner also? That is a new one!

Usually Spaniards spend New Year's Eve with their families. They eat dinner together, eat the grapes, bring in the New Year, and then the younger people in the family head off to parties with their friends. So on new years eve, things don't start to pick up until 1:30 or so because everyone it getting to their parties, meeting up with their friends etc.

The past few years, these parties have gotten more and more expensive, outrageously so. Even though they promise you unlimited drinks, how many are you really going to be able to get in a crowded bar?! So, the trick is to, if you know some locals, to find out if they know a good place... my friends and I have found this awesome little place that's cool, plays good music, room to dance, gets full- but not too much, and there is NO problem in getting our drinks! But after going to the same place for a few years... well, the new trend is leading to renting an apt. or bar or some other local between your group of friends- you have control over the bar etc, and know it won't get overcrowded... or gathering at somebodys home and celebrating there. So the expensive parties are still out there... but looks like its probably one of the few alternatives a tourist has if they don't know anybody from there.

There is always bar hopping, but its hard to do unless you research it ahead of time- find out what bars will not be booked for private parties, or having parties at all, but just be open to walk-ins. This last, the walk-in, are few and far in-between on New Years.