The demolition of an old but singular house in Almuñécar last month is nothing new; many remember the loss of that beautiful old house in front of the Church…

Even the emblematic Paseo del Altillo disappeared under bulldozers with protesters holding their ground before the machinery in a vain attempt to prevent it. The disappearance of the poorly built Mercado de Abastos (municipal market) would have had the same turn out of protesters had everybody not been locked down during those three months of the pandemic.

Then there is the case of historic buildings in private hands that are deliberately left to deteriorate because they are not allowed to demolish them, so they let time and climate take their toll until they become an unstable menace and have to be demolished. Then the builders move in to put yet another block of flats in their place.

We don’t know (somebody does, of course) what will go up in its place but that quirky villa on Calle Bikini has disappeared, despite those who thought it wrong (amongst them many foreign residents) and to the relief of those that thought it was necessary.

Rietveld Schröder House

Those that thought that it should be preserved argued that it was built in the style of the De Stijl art movement and group, amongst whom was the Dutch artist, Piet Monddriaan (1872-1944).

A good example of this type of architecture is the Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht, built in 1924 and possibly the only building realised completely according to its principles.

In short, the house should have been preserved as a monument to De Stijl architecture, some consider.

The family that owned it, Los Rodríguez, who run several establishments, such as Restaurante Emiliano and a nearby hotel, bought the property some years ago (the father acquired it). It was not a listed building and had the Cultural Department of the Junta de Andalucía, or even the Town Hall wanted, they could have opposed its demolition, but they didn’t. Instead, the owners got all the necessary paperwork approved to go ahead.

For me, somebody who has seen a lot of barbaric actions in the municipality, carried out by those that should have been there to prevent it rather than authorise it, this is just another blip on the radar… sorry.

(News/Opinion: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)