Malaga, with 550,000 habitants, is the sixth most important city in Spain and the economic capital of Andalucía. Its strategic local, inside Spain and Europe has equipped it with excellent communications that have permitted it to evolve more quickly and with more efficiency in the business and commercial fields than any other European city.

The strategic planning in Malaga has been and will continue to be a continuous and participative process that looks for all the inhabitants of Malaga to become involved. Since 1992, when the development of the first Strategic Plan was begun that took shape with the presentation of “ The adventure of development of the next destination: Strategic Plan of Malaga” in 1996, a structured and seated social weave has been tried to be constructed over an economic base, capable of converting Malaga into the economic and technological capital of Andalucía, and the capital of tourism and leisure in Europe. This plan that includes almost 200 projects, together with the extraordinary evolution of the city and the economic, social, and infrastructural advances in these last years show the success of the efforts of the Andalucian city. However, it is also put on guard of the necessity to deepen this sector to face the rapid evolution of the city and the changing conditions of the environment.

Currently, Malaga is one of the most important centers of communication and transportation in Spain. The Andalucian city has an international airport in which 50 airlines operate that offer direct flights to 124 airports in 31 countries, emphasizing Great Britain and Germany, in addition to the principal Spanish airports.

As for the railway network, Malaga has predicted for 2007 the extension of the High Velocity line to Malaga. With this improvement, trips to Madrid will be reduced to less than 2 hours, 5 to Barcelona, and 8 to Paris. In reference to marine transport, the port of Malaga, considered to be a frontier port of the European Union, is the second biggest tourist destination of cruises in the Iberian Peninsula and the sixth in the Mediterranean.

In the last years, Malaga has been characterized as having one of the highest growth rates in Spain, situated behind the three great business cities of the country (Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia) in the ranking of Spanish capitals with business interests.

In the last decade the creation of businesses has increased considerably, counting 96,600 businesses in 2004, 22% of the total region. The province of Malaga supports 18% of the GDP of Andalucía and accounts for 28% of the funds which reach Andalucía.

In this sense, it is necessary to emphasize the importance of the Palace of Fairs and Congresses, inaugurated in 2003 and already positioned as a reference of the weekly activity and activity of congresses at a national level. At the cultural level, the city has the Malaga Picasso Museum, one of the three existing in the world dedicated to housing the work of the Malagan painter, and the Center of Contemporary Art, conceived as a dynamic “House of Art”, open to the new tendencies and forms of expression of contemporary art.

This important infrastructure, united with the network of museums and the rich historic-artistic patrimony of the city has converted Malaga into one of the candidate Spanish cities for the European City of Culture for 2016.

To make Malaga a European “Silicon Valley” is not easy but Malaga has the potential for it. Not only does it have a good climate, solvent economy, and an ample playful-cultural offering, but it also has the technological Park of Andalucía and with a dynamic new university capable of reuniting and forming the scholars, technicians, industrialists, information technologists, and professionals of the future.

One of the pillars of economic creation of Malaga and Andalucía is the Technological Park. Since its origin, it was conceived as a technological nucleus of industry and as a scientific, cultural, and recreational environment, capable of enabling synergies and facilitating the exchange of experiences between the distinct agents of innovation. The Technological Park of Andalucía is defined as an environment-friendly business establishment dedicated to processes of innovation of new technologies (R&D) or activities directly related to research or production.

Since its inauguration in 1992, the Technological Park of Andalucía had experienced a great growth until it was converted into a point of reference of R&D, not just for Malaga, but for all of Andalucía. Currently it is home to 375 businesses (telecommunications, electronics, software, advanced services, and environment) that make more than 800 millions of euros annually and an extension of land has been predicted that will permit it to double its capacity to seat companies.

More than 70% of the money made by the technological center comes from businesses related to information technology and communication. Its line of production and research is centered on 4 sectors: technology of mobility, photovoltaic technology, biotechnology or bio-innovation, and the creativity and the creation of our values of innovation.

Another of the pillars of economic creation of the Andalucian city is the university, which in less than 30 years, has been converted into one of the vertices of what is called the “triangular product” of the city, composed also of the airport and the Technological Park. This last point can be found united with the university by a continuous flow of ideas, professionals, and technological advances.

The University of Malaga is recognized by all as an important motor of research and the innovation converting the application of new technologies in the university atmosphere into something fundamental. In this sense, the growth of wireless internet to all the campus should be emphasized, the beginning of the “Virtual Campus”, a program that permits the students to attend some classes online and that harnesses the potential for e-administration.

The new university campus with more than one million square meters of which 214,000 will be reserved for education services, 47,500 to the Scientific Park and enterprises, 23,000 to the high schools and 96,500 to sports zones.

Malaga has technological, economic, and business creations that are currently converting it into one of the most emphasized technological cities in Europe. Nevertheless, although its capacity and its potential have been until now hidden from the rest of the world, Malaga will be converted into a place where numerous professionals exist, tied to the research, the knowledge, the culture, and information and communication technologies that place it as a focus of innovation and technology branding in Europe.