Malaga's former contemporary art centre changes colours as it embarks on new chapter as MUCAC Mayoristas museum

The new appearance of this 1944 building, listed as a BIC (site of cultural interest), will be ready this week. The completion of the refurbishment work and the handover of the property should take place in December, if all goes according to plan.

The project has also involved the restoration of the tower and the upper section of the building in the original wine-red colour. All the external woodwork will also return to their original green colour.

This phase of the painting work is proving particularly labour-intensive precisely because of the building's unique features, with numerous doors that once opened onto the loading bays for the delivery of food and other goods during its time as the central food market.

Furthermore, the upper sections feature ventilation openings in the form of rows of small squares in the area of the former market and small vertical windows in the part that used to house the building's administrative offices. For this reason, the repainting has begun on the side walls and will be ready in the coming days on the front facade, the narrowest part of the building.

Next to the main facade stands the terrace of the former restaurant, which is attached to the building and whose removal the provincial commission for historical heritage has already authorised. This metal structure is considered "incongruous" with the BIC and will therefore be dismantled, which will also allow the repainting of this section of the external side facing the Guadalmedina riverbed.

The building, designed by architect Luis Gutiérrez de Soto, is one of the most important Rationalist buildings in post-war Andalusian architecture. It has faced various issues since its opening as a cultural centre.

With a budget of 940,492 euros (including IVA), the contractor awarded the works, the Malaga-based firm Actüa, has tackled the roof leaks and the property's drainage issues. The project also includes the installation of new toilets on the ground floor and relocating the reception area to bring it closer to the main entrance.

This refurbishment has been significantly delayed, as the contract specified a five-month completion period and the work should have finished by the start of this past summer. Sources have confirmed to Sur that the interior improvements are now almost complete and will be ready for handover to the city council's culture department this coming December.

Following the setback the city council suffered with the tender for the construction of the Malaga auditorium, which was declared void as no companies submitted bids, the launch of the MUCAC Mayoristas is the major outstanding cultural project for the current municipal term of office. The city council cannot afford another setback.

Despite this, time is running out for this reorientation of the project, following the closure of the exhibition centre in 2024 when the operating concession with the company Gestión Cultural y Comunicación came to an end.

Tensions and allegations of a lack of transparency with the concessionaires scuppered a project that the city council was unwilling to salvage in its original form, bringing the period of private management to an end and regaining direct control of the exhibitions and collections under the new MUCAC brand.

Following a standoff with the cultural department over the fate of its staff, who were facing redundancy due to the expiry of the concession, the city council eventually relented and finally integrated the staff of the former CAC into the public agency for the management of Pablo Ruiz Picasso's birthplace and other museum and cultural facilities, with a commitment to return to the exhibition centre in this new phase as MUCAC Mayoristas.

The staffing process, however, is facing a further significant delay, as the culture department has still not launched the previously announced open competition to select the artistic director.

Everything suggests that this will be a rushed process to meet the deadline and that, despite the appointment, the person will have no say in deciding the inaugural exhibitions or managing the permanent collection, as all this work will already have been done and dusted.

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