Phoenician Málaga: El Cerro del Villar

Just under the surface of a nondescript patch of land near Málaga-Costa del Sol airport is one of the best-preserved Phoenician cities in the western Mediterranean.

El Cerro del Villar was first discovered in 1965. To date, only a small part of its total area has been excavated. A series of digs over the years, along with special imaging technology that shows an outline of what lies beneath the ground, have revealed some fascinating details.

This was a busy centre for trade and manufacturing in the Phoenician world, and a key site in their expansion throughout the Mediterranean.

The current excavations began in 2022, led by the University of Málaga and with the participation of teams from universities in Chicago and Marburg (Germany), among others. 

I visited in early September 2024 and was lucky to have the chance to interview archaeologist José Suárez, the excavations director, and Carolina López-Ruiz, a classicist and expert on cultural exchange in the ancient Mediterranean. Check out the video above to hear from them and see the dig in action.

A quick note on terminology – Punic refers to ancient Carthage, the Phoenician colony in north Africa (modern-day Tunisia) that became an empire in its own right. Carthage was founded by colonists from Tyre, one of the great cities of the Phoenician “homeland” in the Levant. 

This year’s dig has now concluded and many months of lab analysis and research will follow, as well as a dig of some kind in 2025, the final year of the current permit.

As for the future, one exciting proposal is that the site be transformed into an archaeological park with an interpretation centre and walkways for visitors, so that the public can see it up close while field work continues. For now, it is a closed site, with many secrets yet to be revealed.

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Coming soon to the blog: a backgrounder on the Phoenician world and a deep dive into some of the Málaga traditions that are said to have Phoenician roots. To get updates, sign up for the Senses of Spain newsletter or follow me on Instagram or TikTok.