Torremolinos officially unveils new cultural space dedicated to prominent Malaga artist

Torremolinos has a new cultural space in tribute to Manuel Blasco and the magazine La Caracola, an area which is located on the second floor of the Pablo Ruiz Picasso cultural centre. The facility, which includes a presentation and lecture room and a library, was inaugurated by the town’s mayor, Margarita del Cid, who was accompanied the director of the Generation of 27 cultural centre, José Antonio Mesa, and the historian and chronicler of Torremolinos, Carlos Blanco.

The motivation of the initiative revolves around the figure of Manuel Blasco, a writer and painter who was related to Picasso and who was a prominent figure of the twentieth century in Malaga. Torremolinos was his chosen place of residence since the 1960s, a town to which he donated a collection of La Caracola, a literary magazine made up of a total of 279 editions published over 23 years, and which can now be viewed in the centre.

The mayor said, “The new cultural space is dedicated to two cultural landmarks that are related to our land. It is a unique corner for literary and artistic talks and meetings that will contribute to Torremolinos' commitment to quality culture. It is in memory of Manuel Blasco and many other creators who left us a legacy of immense intellectual wealth, which deserves to be protected, preserved and disseminated."

Manuel Blasco Alarcón was born into a middle-class bourgeois family in Malaga in 1899: he was a cousin of the Malaga painter José Ruiz Blasco (father of Pablo Ruiz Picasso). In the ‘60s, he alternated his work as a writer with painting, creating themes that are a reflection of the Malaga society of the early 20th century.

The Malaga literary magazine La Caracola took over from the Litoral, which ceased publication in 1929, and was decisive in the configuration of one of the most influential groups in the literature of the twentieth century, the Generation of '27. The first issue was published on 1 November 1952, and it became a benchmark in the national lyrical scene by welcoming Spanish poets of the time from different tendencies, generations and styles. The last edition was published in 1980.