To start our day on the right foot, We will start with a hot drink in one of the many cafes in the area near the Plaza de la Merced.

Our first visit will be the Picasso's birthplace (1).

We start from the number 15 from the Plaza de la Merced where it was born in 1881 Pablo Picasso, the most important painter of the 20th century. Declared a Historic-Artistic Monument of National Interest in 1983 the Natal House Museum began occupying the first floor until today it houses the entire building. What's more, since the year 2005 has another showroom at number 13 from the Plaza de la Merced.

The property is located in the architectural complex known as Casas de Campos where Don José Ruiz Blasco and Doña María Picasso lived., parents of Pablo Ruiz Picasso.

Then, and just 2 minutes, we found the church of Santiago Apóstol (2), which is the oldest Christian temple in Malaga. It was constructed in 1.490 on an old muslim construction, which took advantage of the original facade, that preserves its central door in Mudejar style. This monument is listed as an Asset of Cultural Interest. It houses works of great value by Alonso Cano and Niño de Guevara, as well as two of the most revered images of Holy Week: The Virgin of Love and that of Jesus the Rich.

The famous painter from Malaga Pablo Ruiz Picasso was baptized in this church in 1.881. Actually, You can see the artist's birth certificate and the font where the painter received his baptism.

A few 10 minutes, we found the old municipal museum of Malaga (3), which was one of the spaces where Picasso learned the good craft of painting from his father. José Ruiz was curator of the Municipal Museum and had his workshop installed there. The museum space was located in the San Agustín Convent in the historic center next to the Buenavista Palace, current headquarters of the Museo Picasso Málaga. The Malaga artist remembered this stage of his father with great affection on numerous occasions. "A piece like any other, no special conditions; a little dirtier, if anything, than the one I had at home; but there it was calmer ... ", the painter confessed. The child would accompany the father on occasions, and I would learn the routines and secrets of pictorial art. In the Picassian Route that we offer you, it is very important that you do not skip this point where the artist's little eyes were nourished by the drawing techniques of his father.

To continue, we will make a longer journey until we reach the San Telmo school of fine arts (4) where Picasso's father, Jose Ruiz Blasco, he was a drawing teacher.

The building currently houses the city's athenaeum. Definitely, This was Pablo Picasso's first contact with the classical studies that his father instilled in him since he was a child.. Although he never took any course in this place, the influence of this school was always present in his evolution as an artist. Do not overlook this building with history and enjoy its elegant and mannerist interior style.

Another place that you must visit if you want to get to know the daily life of little Pablo Picasso up close is Comedias Street., where was the San Rafael College (5). It was a secular and modern school, although the painter in his childhood did not like to attend class. Legend has it that sometimes he took his father's objects to the classroom so that he had to go in the middle of the day to pick them up. He said he felt sick so as not to go to school and to be able to stay close to his father at the School of Fine Arts. Currently the school is not there but it is pleasant to take a walk through one of the typical streets of Malaga and lead to the Church of the Martyrs.. An area with a lot of artisanal trade that the childish Picasso visited every day.

El Perchel (6) o Los Percheles is a neighborhood of Malaga that is currently located in the downtown district of the city but it was not always like that, since at first it was the first peri-urban settlement of the capital. The current name comes from the industry that made the area famous for drying fish, for which hangers or sticks were used. Here part of Picasso's roots resurface, since his maternal grandmother, Ines Lopez Robles, he belonged to a humble family of barrileros. In one of the writings made by Picasso himself you can read: “(…) I was born to a mother daughter of a fifteen-year-old daughter born in Malaga in Los Percheles, the beautiful bull that engenders my forehead crowned with jasmine ". Do not hesitate to take a tour of this traditional neighborhood of Malaga that was named in El Quijote by Miguel de Cervantes himself.

The influence of port and the historic center of Malaga (7) in the artist's work is latent, even though he had to leave the city at age ten. As a child he painted "View of the port of Malaga" where he reflects the sea that saw him born.. You can visit this enclave with a maritime scent and then enter the historic center of the city to decipher the entrails of the Malaga spirit that invaded the artist throughout his life and which is reflected in cubist works of typical Andalusian still lifes and flamenco dancers.. In Granada street you can buy bottles of both Ojén and Malaga wine (that he captured in several paintings) and stop by the gardens of the Plaza de la Marina to see the sculpture of El Cenachero, fisherman who brought fresh fish around town to sell in his dinner and that Picasso also captured in his work. Breathe the air of this city with charisma and take a break from your Picassian Route in the Plaza de la Merced to see how the pigeons flutter, animals that the painter saw every day from his window and that he reflected so much in his paintings and drawings.

At this point, it's time to take a break and enjoy the surroundings, the people and the various shops in the area.

Here we can take the opportunity to buy some detail or eat in one of our recommended restaurants.

Once we resume our tour, we will visit the Malagueta bullring (8), where Picasso began painting from a very young age and when he was only eight years old, after a bullfight, and under the advice of his father he painted "The little picador", his first oil painting. Bullfighting was always present in his work and the Malagueta is the bullring where he used to go with his father since he was a child to enjoy the art of fighting.. On this route you have to go to this neo-Mudejar style bullring where, among other celebrations, The “Corrida Picassiana” in honor of the Malaga artist must be highlighted at Easter..

Streets have been dedicated to Picasso, squares and monuments throughout the Malaga geography. One of the highlights of the capital of the Costa del Sol that bears the name of this universal artist are the Picasso Gardens (9), located where the textile factory of La Aurora used to be erected. They are more than 16.000 meters of paintings full of vegetation where you can walk peacefully and remember the cubist painter. Here you can find several specimens of ficus that are among the largest in Europe.

Located in the Bellavista Palace in Malaga is the Picasso Museum Malaga (10). This space responds to Pablo Picasso's wish that his work be present in the city where he was born. The 285 works in the museum's Collection, are the result of the transfer of the artist's heirs. This museum space encompasses Picasso's revolutionary innovations, as well as the wide variety of styles, materials and techniques that he mastered. From the first academic studies to his vision of classicism, going through the overlapping planes of cubism, ceramics, his interpretations of the great masters and the last paintings of the seventies. In the Picassian Route that we propose you could not miss this inescapable enclave.

Between the docks 1 Y 2 we can visit The Center Pompidou Malaga (18) to experience modern and contemporary art. We will continue through the Pier 2, converted into a boulevard with the name of El Palmeral de las Sorpresas. A pleasant area for walking and relaxing where among other facilities, we will find the Alborania Museum (19). Classroom of the Sea, that offers us a unique interactive experience to discover the extraordinary marine fauna and flora of the Alboran Sea.