Pasaje de Chinitas

The Chinitas passage, in Malaga

The Chinitas passage is a narrow lane emblematic of the historic centre of Malaga, laid out at the end of the nineteenth century on the grounds of a former convent. The Malaga audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this place full of charm and mystery, that owes its name to the legendary Café Chinitas, one of the great stages of Andalusian flamenco.

The cradle of Malaga flamenco

Laid out on the grounds formerly occupied by a convent of the seventeenth century, of which only a portico remains today visible on the side of the Plaza de la Constitución, the Chinitas passage is an emblematic place of the historic centre of Malaga. This narrow lane in the shape of a cross, opened in the middle of the nineteenth century by decision of the governor of the time, knew very quickly a great commercial and cultural effervescence. It is in one of its most famous establishments that the passage found its name: the Café Chinitas. Between the middle of the nineteenth century and the end of the 1930s, this café-theatre was one of the most vibrant stages of flamenco in Andalusia; renowned artists set the Malaga evenings alight there, mingling guitar, song and dance in a popular and passionate atmosphere. The place was immortalised by the poet Federico García Lorca, who devoted famous verses to it, anchoring forever the Café Chinitas in the Spanish cultural memory. Today, the café has disappeared, but the passage keeps its particular atmosphere, its old-fashioned charm and its famous duende, this Andalusian mystery. Lined with small shops, bars and restaurants, it remains a picturesque shortcut between the streets of old Malaga, where the memory of the flamenco nights still hovers. A historic passage and a cradle of flamenco, the Chinitas passage is a fine stop of the discovery of Malaga.

What to see

Here you discover a narrow lane in the shape of a cross, laid out in the nineteenth century on the grounds of a former convent of the seventeenth of which a portico subsists; it owes its name to the legendary Café Chinitas, one of the great stages of Andalusian flamenco immortalised by the verses of Federico García Lorca, and keeps today its old-fashioned charm, lined with small shops and bars. The Chinitas passage is a cradle of flamenco in Malaga. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Chinitas passage lies in the heart of the historic centre of Malaga, near the Plaza de la Constitución, reachable on foot. It is a pedestrian lane freely accessible, lined with small shops, bars and restaurants. You discover it during a walk in old Malaga.

Where does the name of the Chinitas passage come from in Malaga?

From the Café Chinitas, one of the most famous establishments of the passage, that was, from the middle of the nineteenth century to the end of the 1930s, one of the great stages of flamenco in Andalusia, immortalised by the verses of the poet Federico García Lorca; the lane was laid out on the grounds of a former convent of the seventeenth century.

Where is the Chinitas passage in Malaga?

In the heart of the historic centre of Malaga, near the Plaza de la Constitución, in Spain.