Plans advance to promote Malaga province raisins by moving and modernising current museum

Malaga's provincial authority, the Diputación de Málaga, is allocating 1.2 million euros to modernise the raisin museum in Almáchar in the east of Malaga province. The idea is to move the museum from its existing space to a refurbished building to reflect the activities related to the raisin production system in the Axarquía, which was recognised as a UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in 2018.

The cultural and tourist project began to be considered at around the time the UN status was approved, with the plan to refurbish an old building that was once the headquarters of a local cooperative, ceded to Almáchar town hall. The contract was awarded to Valencian firm Ecsa Obra Pública y Civil S. L. in 2021.

However, the work did not go ahead as the company withdrew from the contract due to the increase in costs a few months later, with the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022. Now, the Diputación has announced that it will allocate almost 1.2 million euros for the construction of the Ethnographic Centre of the Almáchar Raisin as part of its commitment to the GIAHS status.

The Diputación, which has drawn up the project for this new museum, will transfer this amount to Almáchar town hall so that it can contract the project. The president of the Diputación de Málaga, Francisco Salado, presented the project on Tuesday 10 June together with the mayor of Almáchar, Antonio Yuste, and two members of the Muscatel Association, Josefa Gámez and Juan Gámez.

Salado said, "I would like to emphasise the importance of this cultural facility which will be a great attraction for Almáchar and other municipalities in the Axarquía where raisins continue to be an important economic activity. And, above all, it will serve to perpetuate and preserve as a historical legacy one of the essences and roots of the area."

Yuste stressed that the new centre "will be another tool in the fight against depopulation and a very important resource promoted by the town halls of Almáchar, El Borge and Moclinejo to offer personalised tourist experiences".

The architect who drafted the project, Rafael Salas, said that the main building will be "completely and comprehensively refurbished". He added, "This unique building will be converted into a new cultural and museum facility, which will have indoor and outdoor exhibition rooms (patio and front terrace), a projection room, offices, toilets, storerooms and a shop."

The museum, which will be on three different levels covering some 600 square metres, will reflect the different activities related to the cultivation and processing of the raisin. For example, one area will be dedicated to arts and crafts, with a collection of old photographs of the sultana production process (harvesting, drying, storage and subsequent shipment for export to distant places). In addition, there will be exhibits that provide an insight into the housing, clothing and daily life of the families.