The ‘secret’ of the 4-star hotel that Piqué will build in Malaga: a Muslim cemetery with 250 tombs

The FC Barcelona footballer’s company will have to preserve some of the finds, such as a funerary mosque from the 12th-18th century. Was he going to tell Gerard Piqué that his future four-star hotel in Malaga would unearth important archaeological secrets? Nothing less than a medieval Muslim cemetery full of tombs: about 250. Of course, for the peace of mind of the superstitious, without human remains. archaeologists from Arqueosur, the company in charge of the study. “We have considered several hypotheses such as that they were looted or that the Christians dismantled them as an act of offense, but they would have left scattered signs and bone remains,” he points out. What is the explanation then? That the tombs were never used due to the advance of the Christian troops at the end of the 15th century. “Probably, the fear that they could be caught while they were celebrating a burial prevented them from daring to use the cemetery that was already made,” Cumpián points out. The finding did not surprise archaeologists who were sure that they were going to run into remains of the Islamic necropolis of Yabal Faruh, one of the burial areas of Muslim Malaga, outside the city walls, and one of the most studied on the peninsula. Without human remains, they are not valuable enough to be preserved. “The remains would have given us important data on the population such as gender, age, diet, life expectancy,… which in this case, we cannot obtain since they are empty. It does serve to reflect the anguish that the city had to experience in those moments before the arrival of the Christians,” he points out. The works will have to preserve the findings, but Piqué’s future hotel, which will be operated by the Meliá group, saves other archaeological secrets such as the discovery of a macabrilla, which is a funerary stele, where, for example, information on the buried family was collected.”The finding is unique because the Muslim burials are very poor, without grave goods, since that was interpreted as a sign of vanity,” he clarifies. Simple tombs, with little architectural boasting. “The grave framed in brick and little else,” he insists. That is why this “out of place” element is striking. The other discovery to preserve is a structure dating from the 18th century and which could be one of the ends of a bridge that crossed the current Victoria Street, an old riverbed, as well as a funerary mosque, from the 12th-13th century, whose state of conservation ion is very deficient. Both architectural spaces will have to be preserved underground. “We are in continuous contact with the property and the architects who are in charge of the execution, who are adjusting the foundation levels for its conservation,” Cumpián points out, praising the collaboration of the construction company to fulfill the obligation to protect the remains marked by the Ministry of Culture. A dozen technicians and archaeologists have been working on the more than 3,000 meters of land for months. They trust that at the beginning of the year the construction of the future hotel establishment can begin, in the historic center of the city. A privileged enclave with views of the sea, Gibralfaro and, above all, a lot of history under your feet.