Costa del Sol village unveils sculpture to coincide with International Migrants Day
Malaga-based Argentinian artist Andrés Montesanto created the work which pays tribute to residents of Moclinejo who left in search of work and to those who have moved to the area in recent years
Eugenio Cabezas
Moclinejo
Wednesday, 20 December 2023, 10:53
The village of Moclinejo in Malaga province’s Axarquía area unveiled a new sculpture on Sunday 17 December to pay tribute to local residents forced to leave the village in search of work during Spain’s dictatorship. It also remembers people who have chosen to move to Moclinejo.
'El Migrante' (the migrant) is the work of the Malaga-based Argentinian sculptor Andrés Montesanto. It was unveiled to coincide with the United Nations International Migrants Day, which takes place every year on 18 December.
Mayor of Moclinejo, Antonio Muñoz, originally met with the artist in July to plan this project. Sitting on a large pedestal, with views of the valley of El Valdés and the Mediterranean Sea in the background, 'El Migrante' represents two blocks of figures, physically separated and standing two-metres tall. It is located at the entrance of the village.
On the left-hand side a family unit is represented, where there is an empty space of one of the characters who has left the group. On the same pedestal and at some distance away is the individual figure, which represents the person who has had to leave. In the same way, the symbolism is reversed, where the family unit welcomes someone returning or moving to the village.
Like many villages in the Axarquía, Moclinejo has witnessed emigration during times of hardship, as family members went off in search of a better life and to send money back to their loved ones. In more recent years they have welcomed people who have migrated to the village, attracted to the area “the tranquillity, the climate and the friendly nature of the inhabitants” according to a statement issued by Moclinejo town hall.
Social media
"This monument will become one of the symbols of the village and its identifying image” the statement went on to say and the town hall hopes that visitors will share photographs on social media.
Andrés Montesanto was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1948. He has been a resident in the Axarquía and Málaga since 1989. He studied at the University of Buenos Aires and went on to practise medicine in Patagonia and Buenos Aires before coming to Malaga.
Montesanto is a self-taught sculptor and is president of the Association of Italo-Argentine Residents of the Costa del Sol; a non-profit cultural association, created in 2002, to facilitate integration into the community, and the reunion with Italian roots. He is also an executive on the Committee of Italians Abroad in Madrid. He has published several books and participated in numerous conferences.
Other sculptures by Montesanto can be found in Genalguacil (Serranía de Ronda) and Malaga; in Muelle Uno and on the beaches of El Palo.
