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The Belén is located in Torre del Mar's old sugar cane factory J. rhodes
Torre del Mar's nativity scene opens

Torre del Mar's nativity scene opens

Antonio Fortes has been making the buildings and creating the Belén since 2001 and has won awards for his work

Monday, 28 November 2022, 20:02

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The first sign that Christmas is coming in Torre del Mar is the nativity scene (Belén) that opened in the old sugar cane factory (Azucarera) last Thursday (23 November).

The 50-square-metre scene was designed by Antonio Fortes, an art teacher in the town and also a ‘Belenista’ (nativity scene maker) who has won awards since he started creating his work for Torre del Mar in 2001.

The scene combines traditional images of the Christmas story with emblematic buildings and monuments of the Axarquía town. Papier-mâché models of the iconic blue and white lighthouse, alongside its smaller stone predecessor, as well as the sugar cane factory and the Almayate bull, have appeared for a number of years.

Natural plants

New features in this year’s scene include the literary figure Don Quijote with a typical windmill of La Mancha as well as the old Villa Mercedes on the Paseo Larios, and Fortes reveals that all of the plants are natural, meaning Antonio waters them every day.

“It is a model with elements inspired by the people of Torre del Mar, very characteristic of its history and its past. We have buildings of our town such as the sugar mill, parish church, lighthouses, Villa Mercedes and others," he said.

As well as the buildings, it has a river running through it and into the sea, just like the Río Seco at the Caleta end of Vélez-Málaga or the Río Vélez, which runs between Torre del Mar and Almayate, at least on the rare occasion that it has any water in it. There are over 1,000 figures and Fortes said that he will continue adding to it over the next few days.

There is a moving train which passes in front of a model of the town’s former train station (now the main bus station) and "sings" Christmas music. The first thing that visitors first see as they enter the building is the ‘sea’ which is represented by a small pond with little goldfish swimming about in it, all under the watchful eye of the man who created the Belén.

"All of the models are built in papier-mâché and polystyrene, and it has a channel of 250 litres of water in a closed circuit," according to Fortes, who added that he was "very pleased with the final result” and concluded, “All this time working has been worthwhile and we invite all residents and visitors to the area to come and visit and enjoy it.”

Fortes explained that the scene takes about one month to set up and this year he had some volunteer helpers.

The Azucarera is open Monday to Friday from 10am until 9pm, Saturday from 10am to 8pm and Sundays from 11am to 2pm and from 5 to 8pm. In the evening at around 7pm the lights are dimmed in the building to show the nativity scene lit up.

Antonio Fortes, the singing train and Torre del Mar train station, the town's former sugar cane factory, where the Belén can be seen J. Rhodes
Imagen principal - Antonio Fortes, the singing train and Torre del Mar train station, the town's former sugar cane factory, where the Belén can be seen
Imagen secundaria 1 - Antonio Fortes, the singing train and Torre del Mar train station, the town's former sugar cane factory, where the Belén can be seen
Imagen secundaria 2 - Antonio Fortes, the singing train and Torre del Mar train station, the town's former sugar cane factory, where the Belén can be seen

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