Malaga names the sculptor of Malagan identity as its favorite son: his are the iconic Cenachero, Biznaguero, and Burrito Platero.

The sculptor from Málaga, Jaime Pimentel, will be named a favorite son of Málaga and honored with the city's highest municipal distinction, the City Medal, which was an outstanding debt that the City Council of Málaga had with the creator of the greatest exponents of Malagueñismo: the iconic Cenachero, Biznaguero, and the Burrito del Parque. Who, as a child, hasn't taken the obligatory photo with this tender sculpture? The creator of these landmarks, which are meant to be eternal in the Málaga landscape, will turn 92 years old on the upcoming July 2nd, precisely the day on which the Málaga council will endorse this distinction, which has had the unanimity of all municipal groups, that is, the entire Corporation in the full commission of Social Rights and Culture. The instructor of the record, which is coming to an end, in which artists and collectives join the initiative, has been the Councilor of Culture, Mariana Pineda.

Chronicles from this newspaper report that the Cenachero was originally a protocol gift during the era of Mayor García Grana, "but it grew" and became the sculpture we know today, located in Plaza de la Marina. Before casting, as SUR reports, Pimentel changed the body from an older person to that of a well-built young man, arms akimbo. "In my head, I imagined Diego, that Cenachero whom as a child I never got to see and who used to stir up the maids in the corralón on Carretería street," the artist told this newspaper. "He is a Malagueño who goes, like the prow of a ship, making his way." To this ensemble of sculptures, he also added the seagulls of the Eduardo Ocón enclosure or the well-known girl from Benalmádena. "I never wanted to be popular, just that people like my work," he said.

Pimentel learned the craft far from Málaga, in Norway. Back in 1956, he met the Norwegian ambassador to France, Rolf Otto Andvord. As explained in the Culture proposal, "it would be the Norwegian ambassador who, with his patronage, would turn him into a sculptor and would be the person with whom he would share the next twenty years. Two decades of experiences, closer to a movie script, never dreamed of by the young Pimentel. Wonderful years that only ended with the death of the then octogenarian diplomat in March 1976. It was the ambassador who provided him with a good sculptural training in Norway, where he found respect and support. It was then that he met the sculptor Anne Grimdalen, who was also a patron of the ambassador. His benefactor opened the doors of the art market with a magnificent exhibition at the National Library Palace in February 1961 and subsequently introduced him to the mayor of Málaga Francisco García Grana who, with his commissions for the city, would become not only a great friend of the young sculptor, but also his largest and best client."

It was during this time that he sculpted these iconic sculptures of the city of Málaga, recognizable in the collective imagination of Malagueñismo, and which elevated him to be a top-level artist. "Since then, his artistic maturity would culminate in the highly recognized 'Series' that have structured his prolific production: Sports, Apocalypse, Genesis, and Mediterranean. Hundreds of works that formed these great thematic sets and that were added to important private collections and museums around the world, giving Pimentel enormous international recognition," as the text endorsed by all political groups explains.

His work has not only been most prominent in the city of Málaga but has also marked a before and after in streets and squares of the United States, Norway, Belgium, and Spain. The artist, who will now receive a well-deserved recognition from the city that saw him grow, currently lives in Almayate, in 'El Fandango,' where his house and workshop are located. Before this distinction with which his city honors him, Pimentel, who is a full academician of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Telmo, has already been awarded the Gold Shield of the City of Vélez Málaga, Adopted Son of Rincón de la Victoria, and Distinguished by the Honors File by the City Council of Benalmádena, among other awards and recognitions.