Motril Town Hall wants to buy the land that the old cinema, Coliseo Viñas on Calle Nueva sits. The cinema which many will remember, closed down 30-odd years ago.

Tell a lie; the building was briefly opened to house an exhibition, but never to project films.

The Councillor for Hacienda, Nicolás Navarro, explained that they have been working closely with the owners: “our intention is to acquire the building soon; if things go well, next year.”

Councillor Navarro went on to say that the owners had approached them on several occasions as there are urban-development plans for the area, but on those occasions it didn’t interest the Town Hall. However, the Town Hall finally came back with a price below what was asked. As neither side could reach an agreement, a provincial commission valued the property at around a million euros.

At the moment there are an ongoing administrative proceedings concerning the building but when it concludes the Town Hall  hopes to find out the definitive price in order to acquire it, using surplus funds from last year’s budget from other financial arrangements.

At present, there is no project for the building, which is still laid out as a cinema, because its present state will have to be evaluated before they can decide what to do with it.

The Coliseo Viñas opened its doors for the first time in 1931 when the street was known as Calle Hernández Velasco instead of the present name, Calle Nueva. The owner was Miguel Viñas Parera; hence its name. It was closed up in 1988.

(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)