Cristina Hodgson
MALAGA’S first ever public and mixed bathing spa, El Balneario Nuestra Señora del Carmen, hopes to soon boast the status of Heritage of Cultural Interest (BIC in Spanish).
El Balneario de los Baños del Carmen first opened its doors on July 16 1918 and became a huge success.
The Baños del Carmen had a tram service and gradually expanded its offer with a pier, a restaurant, an outdoor cinema and the first tennis courts in Malaga.
In 1922 the first football field of Malaga opened in El Balneario as well as a 2000 meters dance floor and from the 1920s until the 1960s, it was the biggest party hub in the city—a real innovation at the time.
Now, after decades of decadence, El Balneario seeks a return to its former glory and reference of entertainment by the sea.
The status of Heritage of Cultural Interest will provide the area with the special protection and will also strengthen its esteem among locals and visitors alike.
Monday saw the publication in the Official Gazette of the Junta de Andalucía (BOJA) of the resolution initiating the procedure for the iconic bathing spa’s inscription in the General Catalogue of Andalucian Historical Heritage as an Asset of Cultural Interest, with the typology of Site of Ethnological Interest.
This inscription is, according to the regional delegate for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Gemma del Corral, the ‘main step necessary’ for the formalisation of Los Baños del Carmen, as a Heritage of Cultural Interest.
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