Málaga Fair 2026 has concluded its eight days of celebration with 951,030 visits, according to the municipality's report. The drone and fireworks show attracted 370,000 people.
The City Council of Málaga has released the report of the Málaga Fair 2026, held from August 14 to 22, with a total of 951,030 visits over the eight days of festivities. The free programme included nearly 200 musical and artistic performances spread across the Centre, the Real de Cortijo de Torres, and the Explanada de la Juventud.
The bulk of the attendance was concentrated in the Real, with 288,350 attendees, and in the Centre, which gathered 277,580 people. The Municipal Auditorium hosted around 79,500 spectators in a programme that featured artists such as Antonio Carmona, Diana Navarro, Zenet, Medina Azahara, David de María, Nancys Rubias, and Paloma San Basilio, alongside local names like Encarni Navarro, Tabletom, Hoffman, Tonia Rodríguez, and Ana Romma.
The start of the Fair, on Friday, August 14, was marked by the drone and fireworks show, which attracted around 370,000 people. The following day, the traditional pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of La Victoria had over 5,000 attendees, while about 10,100 people attended the opening speech delivered by the coach of Málaga CF, Juan Francisco Funes.
At the Real de Cortijo de Torres, horses were once again the stars with 1,379 accreditations for horse and carriage access, of which 1,137 were for mounts and 242 for carriages. The Equestrian Exhibition Centre welcomed around 22,200 spectators.
The municipal offerings also had spaces for specific audiences. The Children's Municipal Tent, which has celebrated its 30th anniversary, gathered 6,050 people; the Verdiales Municipal Tent received 26,000 visitors; the Flamenco and Copla Municipal Tent attracted 34,600 spectators; and the free performances by DJs at the Explanada de la Juventud summed up to 120,000 attendees.
In the Centre, the Verdiales Festival on calle Larios reached an estimated attendance of 56,950 people and the Malagueño folk music stage gathered around 34,250. Live music in the squares of the Centre recorded around 136,600 attendees, while the Magic Fair at plaza de la Merced, dedicated this year to the space theme 'From Earth to the Moon', received 48,480 people.
International tourism accounted for 71% of inquiries at the municipal tourist information offices and points, which assisted 20,836 people during the Fair. The United Kingdom, with 22%, topped this section, followed by France (14%) and Italy (11%). Among the national audience, Málaga, Madrid, and the Valencian Community were the main markets.
During these days, nine cruise ships docked at the Port of Málaga, with a combined capacity of over 19,000 passengers. The hotel occupancy rate is estimated at 93.57%, according to the Association of Hotel Entrepreneurs of the Costa del Sol (Aehcos), in line with last year's 93.62%.
The municipal museums and monuments surpassed 60,000 visits during the eight days. The Alcazaba and Gibralfaro remained the most visited spaces, while among the exhibition centres, the Picasso Birthplace Museum stood out with 3,356 visits, followed by the Centre Pompidou Málaga with 3,145, and the Carmen Thyssen Museum Málaga with 1,273.
Digital outreach has also yielded notable figures. The social media accounts of the City Council of Málaga reached 6.7 million views and 188,470 interactions, while the specific accounts for the Málaga Fair accumulated nearly 5.98 million impressions and 239,950 interactions, almost double the impressions of 2025. The follower community of the Fair's profiles has surpassed 55,000 users, about 6,000 more than the previous year. In total, 1,760 posts were made, including posts, reels, and stories.
The virtual assistant TuFerIA, powered by the City Council and Internalia Group to provide real-time information via WhatsApp, recorded 8,000 messages exchanged with nearly 800 people. The service, available 24 hours a day and in a dozen languages, primarily handled inquiries about the location of tents, transport, and the Fair schedule.
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