Once, everyone drank the same lager. Now, the taps are telling a different story and so is the property market.
Málaga Beer Fest is now a fixture on the city’s cultural calendar. Launched in 2019 and returning annually (except during COVID years), Málaga Beer Fest hosts dozens of national and international microbreweries. It draws thousands over a weekend in late spring or early autumn, often held at the port or in the city centre.
By now, you’ll have heard of Malaga. Maybe you passed through on your way to Marbella. Maybe you dismissed it entirely, a place you assumed was for cruise ships and pensioners in pastel trousers. If so, don’t worry. Many made the same mistake.
What’s happening in Malaga now isn’t loud or brash. It’s quiet, confident, the sort of shift that sneaks up on you halfway through a pint of locally brewed pale ale, when you realise: this city has changed. Or, more precisely, it’s grown into itself.
Over the last few years, something has been bubbling beneath the surface — literally. A cluster of independent craft beer makers has taken root across the city and its outskirts, changing not just what people drink, but who drinks here and increasingly, who buys homes here, too.
First, the Beer
Let’s start where all good conversations do: over a drink. La Fábrica, on Calle Trinidad Grund, calls itself a brewpub, though that undersells it somewhat. It’s backed by Cruzcampo (yes, them), but the setup feels more Shoreditch than Spanish conglomerate. There are fermentation tanks behind glass, moody lighting, and menus that talk about “citrus top notes” with a straight face. The beer? Genuinely good. Complex. Something to talk about.
📍 La Fábrica – Calle Trinidad Grund 29, 29001 Málaga
📞 +34 952 12 39 04
📧 [email protected]
Then there’s Bonvivant Beer, out in the warehouse fringes near the Guadalhorce industrial park. If La Fábrica is polished, Bonvivant is raw enthusiasm. They brew with local rosemary, orange peel, sometimes honey from the hills above Vélez-Málaga. It’s the sort of place you stumble across and think: I could live here. Not in the brewery. In the life that surrounds it.
📍 Bonvivant Beer – Calle Diderot 11 P2, Nave 16B, Pol. Ind. Guadalhorce, 29004 Málaga
📱 Contact via Instagram: @bonvivantbeer
Then, the People Drinking It
Once upon a time, British buyers came to the Costa del Sol looking for sangria and somewhere cheap to park a sun lounger. That’s no longer the case.
Today’s buyers are wiser with a taste for the finer things. London finance refugees. Berlin tech founders. Swedes with impeccable taste in oak furniture. They’re after homes with space, yes — but also substance. They ask about internet speed. Solar energy. Where to buy a decent bottle of natural wine. And now: where to get a proper IPA.
They’re also looking for neighbourhoods with soul. Some go for the city — Malaga’s historic centre, with its rooftop flats and tiled courtyards, walking distance from galleries, jazz bars, and, increasingly, breweries. Others prefer Marbella’s sleek modernist villas, all angular lines and blue-on-blue views, with enough solar panels to run a small cinema.
More are venturing inland: Gaucín, Ronda — places with olive trees, silence, and fincas that have been lovingly modernised without sanding down the character. And then there are the golfers, naturally — Sotogrande, with its manicured perfection, long drives, and short glasses.
They come for the climate. They stay for the culture. They buy because — whether it’s a bottle-conditioned saison or a five-bed villa with vineyard potential — they know quality when they see it.
Malaga breweries are experimenting with Andalusian citrus peel, subtropical mango from Axarquía, rosemary, and even almonds to create truly regional beers. Bonvivant Beer’s seasonal sour, for example, used late-harvest mango and fresh lime from Vélez-Málaga.
Everyday Life, If You Can Call It That
Here’s how a day goes.
You wake early. Not because you have to — the days here give you time — but because there’s a rhythm to it. Maybe you swim. Maybe you don’t. Coffee is taken properly. Not in a hurry. Not in a cardboard cup. You head to Mercado Central de Atarazanas, buy sardines and tomatoes that taste like they’re supposed to. Lunch is long. It often involves the sea.
In the evening, you meet friends for drinks. Not at a beach bar with plastic chairs, but somewhere like Arte&Sana, where they serve Attik Brewing’s experimental NEIPAs with a bit of ceremony and no pretence. You drink outside. People say hello.
📍 Arte&Sana Craft Beer Bar – Calle Cárcer 6, 29008 Málaga
📱 @artesanacraftbeerbar on Instagram
Sundays? Skiing in the Sierra Nevada if you feel like it. A barbecue on the terrace if you don’t. Either way, there’s no rush.
Why It All Matters
The shift to craft beer in Malaga isn’t just about taste. It’s about mindset. It’s about choosing depth over default. It’s about knowing that even in the sunniest place, substance still matters.
And that’s the same shift we see in the property market. The buyers we meet at Ultimate Lifestyles are no longer dazzled by marble floors or meaningless square metres. They want homes that reflect who they are now — not who they thought they’d be at 25. They want quality, yes, but also feeling. Possibility. Good neighbours. A pub with decent beer.
So whether you’re looking for a hillside hideaway with room to experiment, or a penthouse in Malaga with walking distance to an IPA worth drinking, we can help.
Your Next Step
No one moves to the Costa del Sol by accident. You visit once, maybe twice, and then it begins to tug at you — that rare combination of light, depth, and space to think. What starts as an idea — “Maybe we’ll get a place down there” — turns into something more deliberate. A life shift. A change of pace. A reordering of priorities.
And that’s where we come in.
At Ultimate Lifestyles, we’re not here to sell you a fantasy. We’re here to introduce you to a real way of living — one with long lunches and morning swims, yes, but also with reliable broadband, thoughtful design, and good beer around the corner. Whether you're after a hillside finca with scope for your own olive oil label, or a penthouse in Malaga where you can walk to the theatre and still be home for sundown drinks, we’ll help you find it.
We know the neighbourhoods. We know the builders. We know which roads get noisy in August and which terraces get the best winter sun. And if you're looking for a craft ale bar nearby? We know that too.
Visit ultimate-lifestyles.com to browse a curated selection of homes that don’t just photograph well — they live well. Or contact our team for a one-on-one consultation. No hard sell. Just an honest conversation about what’s next.
‣ 📧 Email: [email protected]
‣ 📞 Phone: +34 951 12 07 12