Barcelona:
-Better option for travel (major airport=saving $ when booking flights for weekend trips)
-Speak Catalan
-GAUDI!
-LOTS to do
-LOTS of tourists
-Highest rate for pickpockets (and other crimes...ie the less safe of the two)
-Party city
Malaga:
-More "authentic" Spain (food and bullfighting in addition to others - bullfighting is illegal in Barcelona)
-Close to Sevilla, Morocco, Granada, Cordoba, Jerez de la Frontera (and other popular Spanish cities)
-Better beaches (as so I have been told)
-Speak Castillano (if you want to learn Spanish, go here)
-Better weather (in the winter)
-Small
-LOTS of tourists, too (less, though, because it's smaller)
-Party city, too
It also depends on which school is best for what classes you need/want to take.
Hope this helps! I'm studying abroad this year in Spain :) (will def be going to both of these great cities)
Quite easy:
Barcelona is much more beautiful and interesting than Malaga, but it's not at all the right city to get an approach of Spanish culture because in Barcelona we are Catalan, which would be like the Scots or Quebecois from Spain. We have a different culture, identity and language, Catalan, which is also official in Catalonia (Spanish is also official here).
Malaga, on the other hand, is Andalusia, which corresponds with the (sometimes fake) image you guys have of Spain (bullfight, flamenco, siesta, fiesta etc). However, if you opt for Andalusia, Granada or Seville are much better than Malaga, even if they don't have the seaside.
You should think which offers the best for the subject you are studying, nothing else matters!
HANDS DOWN.............MALAGA!
I am studying abroad and want to get the most Spanish culture as possible! Which city would be the best to spend time in? Please give me pros and cons of each city. Thank you for the help!!
