The rains bury the Mijas site with Phoenician and Roman remains

The intense rainfall recorded in the province of Málaga this March has not only caused surface damage. In the Mijas area, near the Cerros del Águila, close to Las Lagunas and the historic center of Fuengirola, the Cortijo Acebedo archaeological site has suffered significant damage. The rains have buried Iron Age graves, as well as a Phoenician necropolis, kilns, and even a Roman-era wine press. This was explained by Desirée Piñero, head of the Mijas Historical Heritage Department, during a guided tour organized by the Senior Citizens Council, which is part of the Active Aging initiatives. "It has been crazy. The damage occurred as the rains persisted over several days. We were unable to work for a period of time, so we had to coordinate with Operational Services and Basic Income to proceed with clearing part of the site," she said. Given that this March has been the wettest on record in this part of the province, the excavation work, which includes the recovery and conservation of relics from the Bronze Age, Phoenician period, and Roman domination up to the 5th century AD, the team of archaeologists and experts working in the Mijas municipality will have to adjust the permits granted by the Andalusian Regional Government to postpone the excavations that were underway until the end of February. Members of the municipal Historical Heritage Department emphasize that the site, whose initial works date back to the end of the last century following the construction of the San Cayetano cemetery in Fuengirola, has always been protected with tarps and other equipment, under the protection granted by the Andalusian Regional Government. However, in the subsequent weeks, without a chance for the ground to dry out, the surrounding groundwater has destroyed profiles and flooded some of the already excavated and cataloged areas. "Fortunately, we have documented the entire site periodically and with the help of drones. Now it's time to work intensively on various cleaning and clearing tasks, with the support of those other municipal departments that will contribute, to our regular work, the labor we need," Piñero clarified. It is worth mentioning that next to the Cortijo Acebedo site, a new archaeological discovery was announced last September at the Cortijo de Ahogadero, also in the Mijas area, following the construction works of a leisure park. It could be a second Roman villa, with a salting factory or a pottery area.