Varying fortunes of Almeria City’s Meson Gitano, an area with history

Varying fortunes of Almeria City's Meson Gitano, an area with history

MESON GITANO: The cave dwellings are currently sealed off Photo credit: Ismael Olea

JASMINES planted along the length of Almeria City’s Meson Gitano disappeared with a week.

Not one shrub remains, lamented city hall’s Twitter account, pointing out that over and above the plants’ monetary value, a tourist attraction had been spoilt.

Meson Gitano, a complex of 12 cave houses, was transformed into an hotel in 1965, visited by the then Tourism minister, Manuel Fraga, as well as Sean Connery, Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Stephen Boyd and Brigitte Bardot.

By the late 70s Meson Gitano’s popularity had waned and lay empty until city hall decided to give it a new lease of life by acquiring the complex in 2009 and including it in the Town Plan with shops, bars and a cultural centre.

As European Union funds were involved, and because Meson Gitano was located in a protected area, it was necessary to carry out archaeological soundings which in 2014 revealed a settlement inhabited between the 11th and 13th centuries.

The caves have now been sealed off, but meanwhile, city hall is embellishing the area, hence the newly-planted but rapidly-disappearing jasmine shrubs.

Written by

Linda Hall

Originally from the UK, Linda is based in Valenca and is a reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering local news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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