Culture
Andalusian government launches fourth tender to open Malaga's Roman baths to visitors
Regional culture ministry re-issues €147,000 contract for Calle Alcazabilla walkways after previous public bids failed to attract contractors
Málaga
Project to open up Malaga's Roman baths at a glance
-
Project status: The Andalusian Ministry of Culture has launched a fourth tender to build accessible visitor walkways over Roman thermal baths and garum manufacturing pools in Málaga.
-
Budget and terms: The contract budget is set at €147,318.32 (including VAT) - double the original 2023 budget - with a five-month execution timeline.
-
Key infrastructure: The project includes constructing wooden-slat walkways and a viewing platform, allowing direct public access from the interpretation centre down to archaeological remains beneath Calle Alcazabilla.
-
Archaeological value: Features early Roman thermal baths with opus spicatum brick paving and fish-sauce (garum) production basins that predate the Roman Theatre.
-
Tender deadline: Bidding companies have until September 7 to submit proposals, followed by a mandatory site visit on September 9.
The regional ministry of culture has, for the fourth time, put out to tender the contract to open the Roman remains in Malaga city centre ... to visitors. Third time wasn't a charm, as the regional government (Junta) expected.
The project first underwent processing six years ago. It has suffered considerable delays since its first tender in 2023.
What is striking about this new attempt is that the Junta has not revised the project and is launching it with the same budget, 147,318.32 euros (including IVA tax), despite the fact that the previous public tender for this exact amount was declared void in 2025.
Related story
-
Heritage
Francisco Griñán
The budget of last year's tender and its resurgence this year is 58 per cent bigger than that of the first two calls, when the cost was 93,333 euros.
The Junta is confident that this time will be successful, bringing to an end this long-running, protracted project involving the construction of a walkway with wooden slats to allow visitors to approach the remains beneath Calle Alcazabilla from a viewing platform.
During the pedestrianisation work on Calle Alcazabilla 15 years ago, the remains of some basins for the manufacture of 'garum' were discovered. They belonged to a large Roman factory that extended throughout the area when the theatre fell into disuse.
Last year, the Roman Theatre was the most visited heritage site the Junta manages in Malaga, with 470,248 visitors. This also places it third among the most popular sites in the region, surpassed only by the Alhambra in Granada and the Synagogue in Cordoba.
The excavation will reveal the remains of one of the few buildings in Malaga documented from the early Roman period, the thermal baths, where part of an opus spicatum floor remains.
These remains, which predate the theatre, are partly located beneath the paving slabs of Calle Alcazabilla and near the garum basins. At present, they can only be viewed from the iconic open glass pyramid on the pedestrian walkway. This project will allow visitors to go down and access the new walkways directly from the monument's interpretation centre.
Interested companies have until 6pm on 7 September to submit their tenders. The Junta has organised a site visit on 9 September to allow construction companies to inspect the archaeological site.
The Junta is confident that it will break the curse and succeed with the fourth attempt, finally attracting the interest of one or more financially sound tenderers specialising in this type of work. The winner of the tender will have a five-month construction period to build the walkways and the new routes through Roman Malaga.
![[]](http://static.vocstatic.com/voc26/latest/assets/images/favicon/surinenglish/apple-touch-icon-57x57.png){kind=icon}