Malaga or Santiago de Compostela?

Malaga is a beach city in a way Santiago is not. La Malagueta starts a few minutes from the cathedral, the old fishing quarters of Pedregalejo and El Palo continue the shore east, and the suburban train carries you to Torremolinos, Benalmadena and Fuengirola. The sand is coarse and grey-brown. The coves at Nerja and Maro are the place for clear water.

Santiago lies inland, about 35km from the coast. The white sand of the Ría de Muros e Noia and the Ría de Arousa is lovely and sheltered, but you have to make a day of getting there, and the Atlantic water stays cold.

The two cities eat equally well, but they eat different things. Malaga runs on fried fish and sardine espetos grilled on the sand, tapas around Plaza de la Merced, and sweet moscatel and Pedro Ximenez wines poured from the barrel. Santiago is shellfish country, with pulpo á feira, scallops, razor clams and percebes, washed down with Albariño or Ribeiro in the taverns of Rúa do Franco.

Each has a market hall worth planning a meal around, the Atarazanas behind its Moorish gate and the granite Mercado de Abastos. Malaga's food is more varied. Santiago puts everything into one excellent regional cuisine.

Both reward two or three days of sightseeing, and Santiago edges ahead because of the sheer weight of its cathedral. The Pórtico da Gloria, the shrine of Saint James and the Praza do Obradoiro sit at the centre of a UNESCO-listed old town of granite arcades and monasteries.

Malaga offers a wider spread of periods. There is a Roman theatre below the Moorish Alcazaba, Gibralfaro castle above, and the unfinished cathedral known as La Manquita. Its art museums are stronger, led by the Picasso Museum and the Carmen Thyssen collection.

Malaga stays out later and in greater numbers. After a late dinner, people drift between the terraces and bars of Calle Granada and Plaza Uncibay. Beach bars at La Malagueta and Pedregalejo stay open into the night, and the bigger clubs and the gay scene are a short train ride away in Torremolinos.

In Santiago, nights depend on the university calendar. During term, students fill the pub-like bars and folk sessions around Rúa da Raíña and Praza de Cervantes, with Thursday the big night. In summer the crowd is mostly pilgrims, who go to bed early.

Malaga's surroundings are more dramatic and more varied. The Caminito del Rey is fixed to a gorge wall, El Torcal is a plateau of stacked limestone with ibex, and serious hikes climb the sierras above Nerja. The Sierra Nevada offers skiing in winter. Summer heat is the drawback, and it pushes walks into the early morning.

Santiago's countryside is softer and green from the rain. Camino paths lead straight out of town, the Costa da Morte has cliffs and lighthouses, and the Fragas do Eume is ancient woodland. There are no high mountains, and you will need a waterproof more often than sun cream.

Malaga gives you some of the great sights of Spain as day trips. The Mezquita in Cordoba is about an hour away by fast train, the Alhambra in Granada a little further, and Ronda's gorge and Seville are also in range. Closer to the city are the Antequera dolmens, Nerja and Frigiliana.

Santiago's day trips are good but smaller in scale. A Coruña's Roman lighthouse is half an hour away, Lugo has its complete Roman walls, and Ourense its thermal springs. The Rías Baixas wine villages and the Camino's end at Fisterra and Muxía are easier with a car.

Malaga is the easier choice with children. The centre is flat and largely pedestrianised, the city beaches shelve gently, and the Alcazaba ramparts keep older children busy. The Bioparc in Fuengirola, the Sea Life aquarium in Benalmadena and the Selwo parks are all along the coast.

Santiago is safe and relaxed, but its sights are mostly churches and museums. The cobbles and slopes are hard work with a pushchair, and a run of rainy days can test a family. The Alameda park and A Coruña's aquarium help, but most families will soon head for the coast.

Both centres are compact and easy to cover on foot. The difference is the ground underfoot and how far the trains take you. Malaga's centre is flat and paved in marble, the suburban train reaches the airport in about ten minutes and continues along the coast, and fast trains run to Cordoba, Seville and Madrid.

In Santiago you can cross the old town in twenty minutes, but the granite is slippery when wet and there are a few short climbs. Trains link the city to A Coruña, Vigo and Ourense. In both regions, the villages and wild coast are much easier with a car.

Malaga is the better place for an afternoon of shopping. Calle Larios has the Spanish chains, El Corte Ingles is across the river, Muelle Uno has shops on the port, and the Soho district has a few independent shops. Puerto Banus is within reach for luxury.

Santiago is better for things with a story behind them than for fashion. Black jet is sold near the Azabachería, and Sargadelos ceramics, tetilla cheese and tinned seafood make good gifts. Beyond these, much of the old town sells scallop-shell souvenirs.

In Malaga the money goes on the room rather than the table. Eating out and the trains along the coast are fair, but the old town and the beachfront are sought after from spring right through to autumn, so a bed there costs more than anything else on the trip. Visiting in the mild winter, or staying a few stops out on the suburban line, lightens the bill most.

Santiago works out cheaper overall. In its bars a drink often brings a tapa with it, whereas in Malaga you usually order and pay for one, and the cathedral itself is free to enter. Its expensive season is also shorter. Rooms fill and cost more mainly in July, around the feast of Saint James, rather than for half the year.

Neither city has a deep theatre season, and neither has much opera, so the interest is in their local traditions. In Malaga that means flamenco, either in tablaos for visitors or, more genuinely, in the peñas where locals perform for each other, with the Philharmonic and touring shows at the Teatro Cervantes.

In Santiago it means Galician bagpipes and folk sessions in old-town bars and student tunas singing in their black capes. The Real Filharmonía de Galicia plays its season at the Auditorio de Galicia.

Neither city has its own bathing tradition, so the difference is where you go to unwind. Malaga has an Arab-style bathhouse in the old town and resort spas towards Marbella, and its mild, sunny winters are restful in themselves. From Santiago, the real thermal water is half an hour or so away at Caldas de Reis and Cuntis, and at Ourense's riverside pools, some of them free.