Junta fails in third attempt to make Roman remains in Malaga accessible to visitors

The regional government of Andalucía has declared its third attempt to put out to tender the work to extend the walkable areas of the Roman theatre under Calle Alcazabilla unsuccessful. No company has submitted a tender, despite the fact that the budget was increased to 147,318.32 euros (including Spanish IVA sales tax), as opposed to the previous 93,333 euros.

The most visited monument in Andalucía after the Alhambra in Granada has not found anyone willing to handle the project. In the last five years, the Junta has unsuccessfully tried to contract the work to build a walkway that would allow people to visit the Roman theatre to view the remains, which can currently only be partially seen beneath a glass pyramid in the middle of the street. After five years of paperwork and three unsuccessful tenders, the Roman theatre is still at the starting point today.

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. In addition, parts of pavements that belonged to the Republican baths prior to the construction of the Roman theatre were also discovered. It is believed that they were created in the 1st century and were later abandoned around the 3rd century.

In January 2020, the regional ministry of culture began the process of contracting the drafting project. The design of this intervention was awarded in August 2020 to Almeria-based company Unión para la Mejora de la Construcción, for an amount of 14,250 euros and a completion period of four months.

However, the objections of the technicians of the regional ministry didn't make approval possible until March 2023. The design of the initially proposed plan was modified on up to five occasions until the definitive version was obtained.

The project includes cleaning and consolidation work on the archaeological walls and profiles and the construction of a walkway with wooden slats to allow visitors to approach the remains beneath Alcazabilla Street from a viewing platform. It also includes the development of an augmented reality app and the generation of QR codes to inform the public of the history of the remains.

In June 2023, the regional ministry of culture put the project out to tender, with a budget of 93,333 euros (with 80% European funding) and a six-month completion period. However, this procedure was unsuccessful because only one bid was submitted, which was rejected by the Junta due to an issue related to the person in charge. In 2024, the Andalusian government once again tried to contract the project. A new tender was launched and a company was proposed as the winning bidder, but the Junta required documentation that the company did not submit, so the tender was once again declared void.

After this second setback, the regional ministry decided to commission the same Almerian company that drew up the project in 2020 to revise the document in order to stop the deterioration of the walls surrounding the excavations under Calle Alcazabilla and the slope of the southern access to the Roman Theatre. In December 2024, the latest version of the project was completed, but it also received objections from the technicians of the delegation of culture.

Finally, after the rectification of these objections and the approval of the Colegio de Arquitectos in May, the provincial commission of historical heritage gave the go-ahead to the latest design for the project, with a budget of 147,318 euros. The execution period has been reduced from six to five months. One of the changes consists of a slight reduction in the surface area of the platform from which the remains will be viewed, in order to avoid uncontrolled public access to the Roman Theatre.

The new tender was published on 12 September, in the hope that these changes in the dossier would encourage bidders. However, no company had submitted a bid by the deadline of 16 October.