Malaga woman turns giant wooden benches into an unlikely rural tourism success

A giant wooden bench might not sound like the answer to rural tourism, but one Malaga woman has turned the unusual idea into a growing attraction across Andalucia.

Nuria Rodriguez, a former Malaga tourism delegate for the Junta de Andalucia, is behind the Ruta de los Bancos Gigantes, a project that now has 33 giant wooden benches installed in villages, towns and scenic locations. Her unusual idea has most recently reached Archez, one of the smallest villages in the Axarquia, where visitors can climb onto a 2.3-metre-high, four-metre-wide bench beside the Ruta de los Molinillos and the Turvilla river.

From a strange idea to 33 giant benches

Rodriguez came up with the concept after joining Antequera-based timber company Agrobroker following her time in politics. A meeting with a mayor who wanted something unusual for a viewpoint got the ball rolling. Rodriguez had seen similar oversized seats abroad and began working with carpenters on a design of her own.

First attempts were not exactly a roaring success. One prototype had wooden trunks forming the way up, but Rodriguez joked that it looked like a robot. Final designs instead use a narrow central staircase, allowing visitors to climb up for a photo while keeping the enormous proportions that make people look tiny.

First installed in February 2023, the concept has since spread through Malaga, Granada, Jaen, Cordoba and Seville, with locations ranging from Torremolinos to Manilva and Benahavis to Almuñecar, La Herradura and Riosa in Asturias.

Why a giant bench could help small villages

Rodriguez insists the bench itself is not really the attraction. Instead, it gives people a reason to visit somewhere they might otherwise never discover. Once there, visitors can explore the village, eat in a local restaurant, shop locally or even stay overnight.

Jamilena in Jaen is cited as one success story, with the mayor telling Rodriguez that the village now receives thousands of visitors and even takes its giant bench concept to tourism fairs.

Every installation follows the same basic dimensions, while individual municipalities can add their own slogans, colours or information panels. A QR system is also planned to connect the different locations, making it easier for visitors to follow the route. For Rodriguez, the real reward is simple: getting people to stop, look around and discover rural Spain. And if that requires climbing onto a gigantic wooden bench first, well, that’s one way of getting tourists to take a seat.