Long-lost photos of 1960s Fuengirola are about to be shown to the public

A young priest who arrived in Fuengirola in the 1960s spent his spare time behind a camera, documenting daily life around town. His work has finally made its way into public hands, and locals will soon get the chance to see it, a very different image of what we see today.

A collection kept safe for years

Father Luis Ramirez Beneytez spent part of the 1960s serving as a priest in Fuengirola, and during that time he turned his hobby into an accidental archive of everyday life. Black and white shots of local streets, neighbours, bullfights, religious processions and sporting events built up a picture of a town that looked nothing like the one holidaymakers know today. After his death in 2016, his family held onto the negatives until this week, when they formally handed over 1,132 original images to Fuengirola’s town hall.

Negatives now a public exhibition

Mayor Ana Mula received the archive in person with culture councillor Rodrigo Romero, describing photography as an invaluable witness to how a place changes over time. Twenty-five of the priest’s images will go on show at the Casa de la Cultura ‘Manuel Delgado Perea’ from September 4 to October 9. Organisers say the exhibition will give visitors a rare, intimate look at everyday scenes from a town now far removed from the busy coastal destination it is now.

The man behind the lens

Born in Mora, Toledo, in 1927, Ramirez trained as a Jesuit after completing military service and was ordained in 1960. His pastoral career took him through Montecorto, Fuengirola, Santa Amalia-El Romeral and Alhaurin El Grande, where he eventually settled until his death in Alhaurin de la Torre. Away from parish duties, he worked as an economist, wrote opinion pieces for Diario Sur and won Andalucia’s top literary prize in 1987 for a novel about General Torrijos’s failed uprising against Fernando VII.

Anyone wanting a glimpse of pre-tourism Fuengirola can visit the Casa de la Cultura free of charge once doors open in September. Council officials hope the exhibition will be viewed by residents keen to spot familiar corners of town and newer arrivals curious about the place they now call home.