Malaga awards contract to renovate San Miguel cemetery

Infrastructure

The project, worth 2.5 million euros, will renew the pavement and lighting of all the streets in the old cemetery

Jesús Hinojosa

Malaga

The San Miguel cemetery in Malaga is undergoing improvement works to repair the paths that wind through its historic mausoleums. The city council has awarded the contract for the project to renovate the paving and lighting.

Public company Parcemasa will manage the work with a budget of 2.5 million euros and a ten-month execution period. The company it has selected is Rofez Construcciones, one of the two construction companies that submitted bids in the open competition.

Designed by architect Juan Manuel Sánchez La Chica, the project may be 80 per cent financed with European funds from the central government. To qualify, construction must finish before the end of 2029.

The main paths of the cemetery will feature a reproduction of the original tile design on Sierra Elvira stone slabs, using the same dimensions as the original tiles (20 by 20 centimetres). Some of the original tiles in good condition will be reused for the new paving.

The project also incorporates bands of different materials (cream marble, Indian green marble, red travertine and granite) which will add visual richness and coherence with the existing funerary landscape.

The cobblestone paving on the side streets will be restored using river pebbles between eight and ten centimetres in size, commonly called 'enmorrillado', finished with granite cobblestones.

The pavement on Calle Rafael will be solid handmade brick, "commemorating the old gate and wall of the enclosure".

The project specifications includes the complete renovation of the lighting system. The aim is "to enhance the overall effect, highlighting specific accents in the central chapel, the main architectural and symbolic landmark of the cemetery, the original gates and prominent landmarks such as the cross on the central path".