Alfred M. Staehle's Travelogue
1961 Virtual Great World Cruise
This travelogue presents transcripts of letters sent to family & friends by Alfred Staehle and his wife Lois, relating their experiences of places visited on Caronia's 1961 Great World Cruise. Collated by and shared with us by his grand-daughter, Sharon Atkins.
Málaga & Torremolinos
09 February 1961
Depart Tangier 1.48am
Clocks advanced 1 hour at 3am
shortly after departure from Tangier
At Sea
Steaming Tangier to Málaga 92 miles
Arrive Málaga 6.25am
Log Abstract…
At: 01:48 (LT) 01:48 (GMT) Tangier departure
At: 07:24 (LT) 06:24 (GMT) Málaga arrival
Passage: 4 hours, 36 mins.
Voyage Distance: 92 miles
Average Speed: 20.00 knots
The brochure extols…
Málaga is one of Spain's important Mediterranean ports, a fine old city near the foot of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains. In the far south of Spain, it enjoys a balmy winter climate, and since it faces toward Africa, it
is called “The Balcony of Europe”.
It produces wine, almonds, olives, and is a popular winter resort for people from all over Europe.
A Professional Tour of Málaga's Bullring
A.M.S…
Málaga provided a very pleasant day. Beautiful views, especially from a government-owned restaurant, “Gibralfaro”
high up on a hill overlooking a beautiful bay. At Málaga we departed entirely from the planned shore trips and
rented a taxi with an English speaking guide all to ourselves. It was a pleasant change.
Saw all the sights and several additional places without the regimentation of fellow passengers at the usual cathedrals and special view spots. Our guide was an ex-toreador which, of course, provided him with an excellent opportunity to show us the local bullring and to explain the whole business - but thoroughly.
We not only saw the bullring but examined every bit of it. There are an amazing number of interesting matters which our guide felt we should understand. For example, how the bull has to be qualified, among other things by weight. If he is under 500 kilos - no dice - he's not big enough for an important fight.
Well, all this takes pretty elaborate equipment. There are special quarters for each bull and his pals. You can't expect a bull to be herded into his quarters without pals. He has to have at least two friends to keep him company. At least eight qualified bulls need to be ready to fight for each show, so this runs into quite a production!
Then there has to be quite an array of accommodations for the bull-fighters, including a rather elaborate chapel for them to pray in; a rather well equipped operating room, complete with a full collection of surgical equipment. A special room is provided for him to die in, if that grim eventuality occurs.
There is also a fully equipped slaughter house for the bulls. A good bull-fighter can get as much as $10,000 to $15,000, tax free, for a single fight. I think this is a darn good “brief coverage” for a short bullring tour, and I hope our readers appreciate it.
We persuaded the guide to pass up the local cathedral. He was displeased!
Torremolinos - A New Resort to Explore
A.M.S…
Because we had our own car, we squeezed out a bonus trip to torremolinos; a sort of an international newly
established resort area about ten miles from Málaga. We had heard about this place, had even given mild
consideration to stopping there at some time.
The community consists of many small villas and a number of hotels. One brand new, plushy, ultra-modern job - the “Hotel Pez Espada” (about 300 rooms) has been built within the past five years. Rates at this hotel: less than $20 per day for two, with meals, for the best room with ocean view.
Excellent looking dining room, broad beach, swimming pool, and most of the guests either English or American. It was pleasantly warm the day we were there. We wondered how Torremolinos had come to be. Except for a few smaller hotels and the one larger hotel, it is a simple place, but growing amazingly as a leisure / tourist attraction.
We understand many of the villas are available for rent for about $30 a month. There are only two very modest little places that might pass for night clubs. We surmised that there is a place, and this might be it, for a quiet, middle-of-the-road resort, for middle-class folk who want the mild winter climate of the Andalusian coast and who care not for gambling, shopping, or drinking.
The principal occupation here, except for a few local fishermen, is obviously loafing.