Guns and Picasso's - Malaga, Spain

…The place is like the inside of James Bond’s basement. Rack after rack of high tech assault rifles, sub machine guns and pistols line the walls…

The highlights of Malaga, Spain: the Picasso Museum and the most awesome toy shop I’ve ever seen.

Guns.

Walking into the city to see the Picasso Museum, I do a double take as I pass a shop window. Assault rifles, handguns, night vision goggles… I have to make a detour.

(Above: Angel posing with one of his awesome toys.)

I am greeted inside by a smiling man in frameless spectacles. Angel is the proprietor of the Full Metal “Airsoft” shop.
Airsoft is a growing trend in Spain, Angel tells me.
The place is like the inside of James Bond’s basement. Rack after rack of high tech assault rifles, sub machine guns and pistols line the walls.
These are not real guns, but don’t be disappointed, they are better than the real thing, because with these BB guns, you can go out to the woods on the weekend, pepper your buddies with plastic pellets, and then
all go to the bodegas (pub) after for a tinto verano (red wine mixed with sprite) because no-one is dead.
You can even get a BB grenade launcher which fires BB pellet grenades. Drool.

Angel and his club, organise regular competitive events for Airsoft enthusiasts.
There is a shoot out scheduled in a fortnights time, and Angel invites me to attend. Regretfully, I tell him I have to head back to Australia before then.

Picasso’s.

What is it about Pablo Picasso?
Walking through the Picasso Museum I am alternately excited, amused, touched, perplexed, fascinated and inspired.

There’s a quote printed on the wall in one of the rooms:
“My object is to show what I have found and not what I am looking for… Intentions are not sufficient… Love must be proved by facts and not by reasons. What one does is what counts and not what one had the intention of doing.”

Clearly this was a man of immense talent, courage, self awareness and humour. This is a man to admire.

The art works seem intensely personal. It’s like having a conversation – one of those late night talks when you spill your guts, share your most guarded secrets.

I feel like Picasso saw the world with a mixture of innocence and skepticism. He seems like a man in love with beauty, but also impatient to learn it’s meaning, and I identify strongly with his yearning.

Malaga, like most Spanish towns, is very easy to camp. I find a great, hidden spot, on a hillside about 40 minutes walk from the city centre. You can still be a Gypsy in Spain.