Detail

Although the first match was held on the 3rd of April 1941 the inaugural match between Malacitano (Old name of Málaga) and Ferroviaria should have occurred much sooner, but didn’t due to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War delaying the project time by over 5 years. Curiously, some regard the official opening date as the 14th of September whereby the 8,000 capacity stadium hosted a match against Sevilla in the league. As football fever began to grip Europe and Spain, La Rosaleda was eventually expanded to a capacity of 22,000 with the addition of a new two-tiered east stand laying down the gauntlet for future renovations. The 1982 World Cup finished what the expansion of the 1960s started with further tiers added onto the remaining single-tiered stands in addition to the pitch being lower and improvements to the exterior. During the World Cup itself, the then 37,000 seater La Rosaleda Estadio hosted three group matches: Scotland vs New Zealand (5-2), Soviet Union vs New Zealand (3-0) and Soviet Union vs Scotland (2-2). The stadium remained unchanged for the next two decades with the next modernisation steps occurring in the year 2000. Over the next 6 years, La Rosaleda (The Rose Garden) once again blossomed into beautiful flower thanks to the combined efforts of architect José Segui Pérez and Sando-Vera who turned it into a bouquet of modern, commercially viable, safety-regulatory meeting, corporate facilities.

DRIVING If you are driving from South West then you will be traveling on the A7 motorway meaning you will have to take Exit 240, and then follow signs to the stadium after taking the first exit at the first roundabout and second exit at the second roundabout. The address for satnav is as follows: Paseo de Martiricos s/n, 29011 Málaga Car parks There doesn’t appear to be any official carparking available at the stadium which means you will have to improvise if driving. This Parkopedia page contains an excellent map of available parking spaces and their costs within Malaga. TRAIN Malaga’s main train station Maria Zambrano is a similar distance away by foot but is on the left hand side of the river which means you would need to take a different and far less scenic route. The train station mainly serves other destinations in Spain such as Madrid (2.5 – 3 hours), Cordoba (1 hour) and Seville (2 hours) with commuter rail lines being of no assistance in getting to La Rosaleda. As there isn’t a bus station immediately outside the station, the best advice would be to walk east across the river to Alameda Principal in the city centre where buses do depart from. BUS Alameda Principal is the main bus terminal of the city and is situated on Paseo de los Tilos with there essentially being three bus choices: Bus 17 – Heading to La Palma. Get off at the Avda. Dr. Marañón stop. Bus 26 – Heading to Alegría de la Huerta. Get off at the Rosario Pino stop. Bus 2 – Heading to Ciudad Jardín), Get off at the Jorge Silvela stop. AIRPORTS Málaga Airport officialy known as Málaga–Costa del Sol Airport is the 4th busiest airport in Spain and is the major airport for the Costa Del Sol. 8 km Southwest of the city centre. The airport now has a transportation hub outside of the newly built Terminal 3 meaning that you can easily transfer to the city centre either via Bus or metro/train line very conveniently. The underground station opened in 2010 and services run to the city every 20 minutes or so taking 12 minutes, with the buses slightly more frequent in number, but with the trade off of journey time (30 mins). Lastly, Taxis from the airport will set you back a minimum of €20 due to how they price journeys in the area, with both the bus and train service costing you no more than €3 for a single fare.