Museo Carmen Thyssen Malaga (Carmen Thyssen Museum), Malaga (must see)

Carmen Cervera, widow of American Actor Lex Barker, married Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza in England in 1985. Both she and the Baron shared a passion for art and a desire to make art more accessible to the general public. With the support and council of her husband, the Baroness formed her personal art collection.

An extension of her collection opened in 2011 in Malaga. The Baroness personally supervises the managing of the Carmen Thyssen Museum, home to her private collection of Andlusian paintings from the 19th and 20th centuries. The collections are housed in the 16th century Baroque Villalon Palace in the center of Malaga.

The paintings mainly depict Mediterranean landscapes and scenes from rural life. There are paintings by old masters, including Zurbaran's "Santa Marina." A section is devoted to landscapes and rural life by Genaro Vilaamil, Manuel Barron, and Dominguez Becquer. Another section has more landscapes and turn of the century Spanish art.

The Villalon Palace needed restoration to accommodate the art and the public, but some parts of the original building remain. There is an internal patio with views of the spires of Church of the Sacred Heart and carved wooden ceilings.