Antonio Banderas elevates the fine arts credentials of his native Malaga

For more than two decades now, the Andalusian city of Malaga has invested heavily in visual and fine arts development, beautification projects and a general effort to elevate the cultural attractiveness of the popular Mediterranean port city. It has paid off. The city now has more than 30 distinct and respected museums, its very own philharmonic orchestra, a vibrant theatre scene, various and an annual international film festival. It makes sense as well; while Antonio Banderas may be the best known living Malagueñan, he’s not even the most famous artistic native son from Malaga. Painter Pablo Picasso was also born here, in 1881, and the Picasso museum and birth house are a couple of the most popular attractions in the city.

Banderas has long sought to give something back to the art scene in Malaga that gave him his first inspiration as a performer and he maintains a penthouse and business interests there. In 2017, his plan to develop an arts…