Malaga or Cadiz?

These are two strong beach cities, but the beaches are different in kind. Cadiz has the better sand: Playa Victoria runs for kilometres of wide golden beach, La Caleta is a sheltered cove in the old town, and beyond the city the Costa de la Luz offers long, empty Atlantic strands backed by dunes. The price is the levante, which can whip sand across them for days.

Malaga's city beaches are grey-brown and practical, with La Malagueta a short walk from the cathedral and the old fishing quarters of Pedregalejo and El Palo just east. West of the city the shore becomes a continuous resort coast reached by suburban train, and for clear water and coves you head to Nerja and Maro. The sea is about as warm in August in both.

Both are cities of fish and tapas, and either will feed you very well. Cadiz leans on fried fish from the freidurías, shrimp fritters and almadraba bluefin tuna, washed down with manzanilla and fino from the nearby sherry towns, though its range beyond that is narrow.

Malaga's signature is the espeto, sardines roasted over driftwood on the beach, with its own sweet moscatel and Pedro Ximénez wines poured from the barrel in old bodegas. It also has slightly more ambitious cooking, while the Atarazanas market plays the same role as the Mercado Central in Cadiz.

The two are evenly matched as sightseeing cities, and neither needs more than a few days. Cadiz is about deep history and atmosphere: Phoenician sarcophagi in the Museo de Cádiz, a half-buried Roman theatre in the Barrio del Pópulo, merchant houses topped with watchtowers from the Americas trade, and the oratory where the 1812 constitution was signed.

Malaga leans more on museums and monuments. The Moorish Alcazaba and Gibralfaro castle rise above its own Roman theatre, and Picasso is the big draw in two separate places: the Picasso Museum, in a palace off Calle San Agustín, shows his work across his whole life, and the house where he was born stands on Plaza de la Merced. The Carmen Thyssen collection and the CAC for contemporary art add to the list.

Malaga has the livelier nights. The old town around Plaza de la Merced and Calle Granada stays full well past two on summer weekends, and Torremolinos and Marbella are close for clubbing and the gay scene.

Cadiz is quieter for most of the year, with tapas bars in La Viña and seafront terraces along Playa Victoria in summer, and only a small, student-led club scene. Its great exception is Carnival, ten days in February when the whole city parties through the night.

Malaga has wilder country closer to hand. The Montes de Malaga start at the city's edge, and within an hour or two lie the Caminito del Rey gorge walkway, the limestone stacks of El Torcal, the Sierras above Nerja and the Sierra Nevada with skiing in winter.

The outdoors around Cadiz is flatter and more about water: the salt pans and marshes of the bay natural park for flamingos and kayaking, the cliff-top pines of La Breña, and the wind and whale-watching at Tarifa. Real mountain walking means the Sierra de Grazalema, about two hours inland.

Both make excellent bases, but Malaga reaches more of Andalusia's great sights. Granada's Alhambra, Cordoba's Mezquita, Ronda and the Antequera dolmens are all within easy range, with Nerja, Frigiliana and Gibraltar along the coast.

From Cadiz the trips are closer and more local in flavour: Jerez and its riding school, the sherry towns of El Puerto and Sanlúcar, the white towns of Vejer and Arcos, and the Roman ruins at Bolonia. Seville is within reach of either.

Malaga is the stronger choice with children, mainly because the attractions built for them are a short suburban train ride away: the Bioparc in Fuengirola, an aquarium and dolphin park in Benalmadena, and a safari park near Estepona. The city beaches shelve gently and the Alcazaba ramparts suit older children.

Cadiz works well for a simple beach vacation, with lifeguarded sand at Playa Victoria and shady parks in the old town, but beyond the castles and the camera obscura there is little to fill a rainy or windy afternoon. Its milder summer heat is a point in its favour.

Getting around is easy in both, with a flat, walkable centre where a car is no use. Cadiz's old town is a car-light grid on a peninsula, with buses down the isthmus to the beach, trains to Jerez and Seville, and a catamaran across the bay.

Malaga adds a suburban train that reaches the airport in minutes and runs along the coast, a short metro and fast trains to Madrid and Cordoba. In both, the villages and wilder coast need a hire car.

Malaga is the better place to shop. Calle Larios gives it a polished main street of Spanish chains, El Corte Inglés and the Muelle Uno port promenade add more, and Puerto Banús is within reach for luxury.

Cadiz is modest by comparison, with chains and family shops around Calle Ancha and Plaza de las Flores. It is good for fans, ceramics, flamenco dress and sherry, but anyone serious about shopping goes to Seville.

Costs are much the same in both: eating and drinking are cheap, while rooms take most of the budget. In Cadiz the squeeze comes from the small number of hotels in the old town, sharpest in July, August and Carnival week, and staying near Playa Victoria helps. In Malaga demand runs from spring right through autumn, so winter or a base just outside the centre is the way to save.

Cadiz has the more distinctive live scene. It is a cradle of flamenco, and the peñas of the Santa María quarter play to knowing local audiences, while the Gran Teatro Falla hosts the Carnival song contest of satirical chirigotas and an autumn Ibero-American theatre festival.

Malaga has more of a conventional stage, with the Teatro Cervantes home to the city's philharmonic, plus small jazz and rock venues and the drama of Semana Santa processions. Its flamenco is weighted more towards tablaos for visitors.

Neither is a spa destination, and in both the slow Andalusian day of long lunches and siestas does more than any treatment. Malaga has an Arab-style bathhouse in the old town itself, while from Cadiz you drive to the resort spas of Novo Sancti Petri or take the train to the baths in Jerez.