Experts call for more investment in 'unknown' Acinipo archaeological site near Ronda

Pilar Corrales, professor at the University of Malaga (UMA) and key researcher at the archaeological site of Acinipo, located around 20 kilometres from Ronda in the La Vieja area, recently called on the authorities to invest more in this site in order to enhance its value, insisting on its potential to reveal more treasures. "Acinipo is known by very few people, unlike other sites such as Italica," she said, adding that "different researchers have highlighted its potential. It is incomprehensible that, being a site protected by the governing bodies, there is no investment."

Corrales stressed that Acinipo has one of the "great Roman theatres in the world and there have been specific interventions, but it is poorly communicated, it has no visitor reception centre.... There is a lot of work to be done." The latest action taken there merely involved improving the theatre's vault to stop the damage caused by rainwater.

Corrales is currently working on a study to shed light on the origin, growth and abandonment of Acinipo using state-of-the-art technology.

It should be noted that, in recent years, different voices have drawn attention to the state of neglect to which the site has been subjected and the need to enhance its value as one of Ronda's most important tourist attractions. The town's mayor, María de la Paz Fernández, said that "a phased plan is needed to discover what lies underground."

The Acinipo site has elements dating from the 3rd millennium BC to the late Roman period with some from the Nasrid period. It occupies 32 hectares and only 1% of it has been excavated. During the Roman period it minted its own coinage and was a city with significant influence in the Roman Empire, which is why the part of its Roman theatre that can currently be seen has been listed as an Historic-Artistic Monument since 1931. The passage of time, the rains and the presence of livestock caused, among other things, the near disappearance of a lararium or domestic altar. Also previously, coins and other remains of value were frequently plundered from there.