Málaga celebrates the bicycle festival to promote a "clean and healthy" mode of transportation

Cristina Vallejo

Málaga woke up this Sunday with many people dressed in cycling clothes and riding on two wheels. There were also customized bikes, like the one belonging to Francisco Álvarez, 39 years old, who, like a true medieval knight, rode a horse; in this case, his bike had been transformed into one. "This is the first time I'm participating, I don't bike daily, but I do triathlon and train often in the Montes de Málaga," he commented from behind his armor just minutes before the start of Bike Day organized by the Málaga City Council with the sponsorship of the Unicaja Foundation and El Corte Inglés. The event, which started from Paseo del Parque for the long route of 12 kilometers, and from Teatinos for the short route, ended at the Faculty of Sciences in the Málaga University City. Awards were given for the most visually appealing costume and bike customization.

Sergio Moriel, another Málaga resident, was surrounded by pirates: his entire family, including his two daughters aged two and three, who looked quite charming, and another family friend, had dressed up as pirates. "We were undecided between going as pirates or astronauts, but this was quicker. In previous years, our friends dressed up as characters from the movie 'Up'," Sergio Moriel shares. They are regular bike users, as evidenced by the trailer they have prepared for the children, which had been turned into a pirate ship. They take advantage of this day when the bike takes over Málaga to express their wish for more safety for daily riding, more lanes, and more parking spots.

But Fernando Jiménez, the patriarch of a family participating in bike day and who says he has been using bikes since childhood, has seen an improvement in the city: "It's true that before you could go anywhere, but now they have made many lanes, so we are better off," he comments. His son, Javier Jiménez, who in turn has two children aged eight and six who have been riding bikes since they were three, limits his hobby to leisure, to weekends, to going to Huelin and La Malagueta with his family along the seaside promenades: "It's not so easy to use the bike daily," he admits. But his, clearly, is a family of three generations of cyclists.

Lidia, who is a regular cyclist and uses the bicycle as her everyday means of transport, participates in this day because her daughter, Vega, eight years old, loves to dress up. Different reasons for the same end: enjoying a day outdoors together, with sun that sometimes hides behind the clouds, and pleasant temperature. The girl wears one of the most sophisticated costumes of the day: the Demogorgon from 'Stranger Things,' which is truly frightening. The mother does not miss an opportunity: for everyday use, for commuting to the university, to the Teatinos extension, she suggests that there be better maintenance of the lanes, especially after the rains, because some sections remain waterlogged for many days.

At this official bike party, 1,500 people who had registered in advance participated, but, according to the organization, the number could reach between 3,000 and 4,000, as there were cyclists who joined along the route, which followed from Paseo del Parque, Alameda Principal, Avenida de Andalucía, Avenida de la Aurora, Ortega y Gasset, and María Zambrano to the University from where they turned back along Jorge Luis Borges, Cómpeta, Herrera Oria, and Hilera to return again to Paseo del Parque, where music was played, for example, the soundtrack of 'Verano Azul'. "Although it seems like Nerja, this is the city of Málaga," joked the person in charge of the loudspeaker.

The aim of the initiative, in the words of Gerardo Lerones, director of social activities at the Unicaja Foundation, is "to promote the use of the bicycle and the enjoyment of the city": "Today Málaga becomes a city more open to the citizens, to all audiences, because this is an inclusive party." And Fernando de la Cruz, 87 years old, who in his sleepless nights has built a more stable and easier-to-drive pedal device than a bike that he wants to patent for use by older people, attested to this. As De la Cruz explained to SUR, the mayor of Málaga, Francisco de la Torre, rode the device and suggested to the man that he approach the Mobility Area of the City Council to present the proposal. The mayor rode a beautiful bike with a basket and joined the route. Municipal workers commented: "This promotes the bicycle as a clean and healthy means of transport."

"We want people to enjoy the streets of Málaga. It's a very participative initiative, not competitive. We propose a family day, a stroll through the city for all ages," explained Eduardo Barrero, in charge of institutional relations at El Corte Inglés. Perhaps this type of proposal, this way of bringing bikes out onto the streets on a Sunday morning, will improve one of the deficits observed by José Manuel Barranco, president of the Málaga Cycling School: "There isn't much of a cycling culture in this city. Although in the rest of the province there are more clubs like ours, in the capital, it's just us." In that association, mainly dedicated to mountain biking, they teach children and teenagers from four to 17 years old maneuvers, balance... but also road safety and awareness that on public roads, pedestrians, cyclists, and motor vehicles must coexist in harmony.

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