Malaga's history goes back 3000 years when the Phoenicians first started to use the harbour and laid the foundations of the fortress overlooking the city. The Greek arrived in the 6th c. B.C., followed by the Romans in the 3rd Century B.C. They enlarged the fortress and built an amphitheatre which can still be seen, although some of the stone blocks were used for the construction of the Moorish fortress. Malaga became part of the Moorish kingdom of Al-Andalus from the 8th to the 15th Century and one of the important trade centres on the Iberian Peninsula. It was one of the last Moorish strongholds to fall to the Christians in 1487.

The imposing 10th-century fortress (the Alcazaba), one of the largest preserved Muslim military buildings in Spain, houses the town's archeological museum. It contains beautifully landscaped Arab gardens with fountains. The fortress opens a magnificent view on the city and the harbour. The 14th-century Gibralfaro Castle was built on the site of a former lighthouse, and is renowned for the three-month siege it stood against Isabel and Fernando, until the defenders were starved into capitulation. The solid ramparts still stand. Another important architectural monument is the eclectic Cathedral with predominating Renaissance and Baroque elements. Its construction spanned  two centuries, from 1528 to 1782. Only one of the originally designed two towers was completed, so the cathedral has popularly been referred to as La Manquita, or the 'one-armed lady'. It has a beautiful choir of mahogany and cedarwood by Luis Ortiz, and 40 statues of the saints by the celebrated wood-carver Pedro de Mena.

Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga. His works are exhibited in the 16th-century Palace of Isabel of Castile and Fernando of Aragon near the Cathedral which now houses the Museum of Fine Art, and in other galleries. A permanent exhibition of his engravings can be seen at Picasso's birthplace in Plaza de la Merced.