Nice climate, very friendly people, good food and the hotels didn't seem to be too expensive.
Yeah all the foreign holidaymakers are down the costa at Torremolinos and Fuengirola etc, they come into Malaga airport but turn right.
Malaga's pretty good as a base, there's the Picasso museum and fast trains to Seville and Cordoba, not so fast train to Granada, good buses to Marbella & Mijas etc, El Torcal national park up in the hills, some nice local city beaches if that's your thing.