Malaga's main station: Location map
Malaga has just one main station, Malaga Maria Zambrano, opened in 2007 and named after Spanish philosopher María Zambrano Alarcón (1904-1991). All high-speed and classic trains to Madrid, Barcelona, Seville leave from here. Photos on this page courtesy of www.discoverbyrail.com.
Station overview
The two buildings that stand either side of the current entrance are all that's left of Malaga's original station of 1863. A great iron trainshed used to sit between those two buildings, today's Malaga Maria Zambrano station is a modern Vialia shopping centre with station included, on the site of Malaga's original station.
Above, parts of the original 1863 station flank the main entrance. Below, main entrance to the station & shopping centre.
Which platform?
Walk through the station entrance into the main hall. Turn left for platforms 10-11 or go straight ahead to platforms 1-8. You'll find the main departures board and luggage control for platforms 1-8 at the far end of the hall, you can see the luggage X-ray scanners in the photo below.
Platforms 1-8 are at ground level, numbered 1 to 8 from right to left.
Platforms 1-5 are standard gauge and used by high-speed trains such as AVE to Madrid & Barcelona, also Iryo. Platforms 6-8 are Iberian gauge and used by regional trains. There is no platform 9.
Platforms 10 & 11 are underground alongside the main station and used by cercanias (suburban) trains, including route C1 which runs every 20 minutes to Torremolinos and Fuengirola. Walk into the station entrance and turn left, follow the signs to platforms 10-11.
Tickets & reservations
The Renfe ticket office is on the left-hand side of the main hall as you face the departures board and luggage control to the platforms. There's a numbered queuing system, take a number from the pink machine inside the office, it has a touch screen which can be switched to English. There are also Renfe ticket machines, although these won't do passholder reservations.
Luggage lockers
There are no left luggage lockers (consigna) at Malaga Maria Zambrano station, although you can see signs for Consigna / Left luggage if you look inside the station on Google Street View so there clearly used to be.
There are a limited number of lockers in the adjacent bus station (Estación de Autobuses) 260m away, see walking route.
Sala Club lounge
If you've paid the Premium fare for one of Renfe's AVE or Euromed trains, you can use the Sala Club lounge for up to 2h before your train leaves, with complimentary tea, coffee, snacks & beer. Open 05:55-20:23 Monday-Friday, 06:55-20:23 Saturday & 06:55-21:16 Sunday. You can check opening times at www.renfe.com. The Sala Club is upstairs, look for the lift marked Sala Club on the right as you approach the main departures board and luggage control. Here it's outside luggage control.
Food and drink
There are many food outlets around the shopping centre. If you find a good bar or restaurant nearby, let me know!
Taxis
The taxi rank is right outside the main station/shopping centre entrance. Taxis are usually plentiful.
Hotels near the station
If you're here for the beach, you'll want a hotel by the sea and not necessarily in Malaga itself. But if you need a place in the city near the station, here are several good choices all with 24h front desk:
The 4-star Hotel Barcelo Malaga is directly linked to the station itself, gets great reviews and even boasts a swimming pool.
The 3-star Hotel Don Paco is significantly cheaper, across the road from the station and along to the right, also with great reviews.
The 1-star Hotel Las Americas is also cheaper, gets great reviews, and is just across the road from the main station entrance and a little to the right.
How to reach Torremolinos & Fuengirola
Cercanias (suburban) trains on line C1 link Malaga Maria Zambrano with with Torremolinos and Fuengirola every 20 minutes from 05:30 to 22:30.
The trains leave from platform 11. Walk into the main station entrance and turn left, following the signs to underground platforms 10 & 11 Cercanias C1, C2.
Malaga to Torremolinos takes 23 minutes, fare €2.05. Malaga to Fuengirola takes 47 minutes, fare €3.60.
You won't need to pay for a suburban train ticket if you have a long-distance ticket, see Renfe's CombinadoCercanias offer, this also works with Iryo tickets.
For a route map and departure times see www.renfe.com, click the globe and select Ingles for English, click Cercanias (Commuter) upper left then select Malaga.
How to reach Marbella & Estepona
There are two options to reach Marbella or Estepona:
Option 1, take a frequent C1 cercanias (suburban) train from Malaga to Fuengirola (see above) then a frequent connecting bus to Marbella or Estepona. You won't need to pay for the suburban train if you have a Spanish long-distance train ticket, see Renfe's CombinadoCercanias offer, this also works with Iryo tickets.
Option 2 is to take a direct bus from Malaga to Marbella or Estepona. Buses to Marbella leave from Malaga bus station (next door to the railway station) every hour or so, fast buses take 45 minutes, slow buses 75 minutes, fare around €8, see www.avanzabus.com. Buses also run from Malaga to Estepona, journey time 2 hours, fare around €10, see www.avanzabus.com.