A big thanks to all of you who have taken the time to answer.
According to Gamel Woolsey's’ Death's Other Kingdom’ the bombing went on for some considerable time and intensity before the fall of Malaga on 8th February 1937.
My story is set in Estepona, between Gibraltar and Malaga.
The protagonists wait until the grape harvest in October1936 before leaving for the defence of Malaga. I need to know if the bombers passed over Estepona as it would have a considerable effect on their decision making and consequent effect on those who don't go but watch the bombers pass overhead.
1. Franco’s troops landed in Cadiz from Morocco. The land assault’s headquarters were in Seville. Flights from these citys would fly over Estepona.
2. It was the Italian airforce which bombed Malaga.
3. Apart from Cadiz and Seville, Majorca was used as a base by the Italians.
4. If you think about it, it would be easier to deliver the bombs to Majorca by boat from Italy than to take them to Cadiz, load up the bombers to double back to Malaga. However, bombers leaving Majorca would add 200 kilometres to a bomb-run.
5. Neither Hugh Thomas nor Antony Beevor mentions much about the bombing and certainly not where the bombers were based.
6. Gamel Woosley’s account is that of an eye witness and I must assume she was accurate in her descriptions of the intensity of the air raids.