Well, apart from ripping up the paseo just before Semana Santa, the Town Hall is set on transforming El Peñon, known to English speakers as the whale-back rock.

Mayor, Javier Ortega wants to turn it into a tourist attraction, making it more accessible with more to see up there. 

In its currrent state it’s mountain-goat friendly during the day and probably not recommended at night unless you have a torch and have a suitable physical presence to dissuade someone who wants to share your portable wealth.

The project includes the installation of a simple perimeter fence to ensure visitor safety, along with small rest areas and dim lighting to make the Peñón visible at night without disturbing the environment.

According to Mayor Ortega, the work will take advantage of the Peñón’s existing natural platforms. Rather than building new infrastructure, existing paths will be worked upon  to make them safer to use. 

Now, the rock has been around a while and was probably once a small island as the sea came in much further and was inhabited back in antiquity; i.e. 200 years before the birth of Christ when dinosaurs were kept as pets, according to some religious enthusiasts. In fact, it is thought that there was a temple there. To promote its long history there will be information panels and QR codes along the paths.

Furthermore, the Peñón also has plants up there, some of which are very rare, so they want to create small protected areas for their conservation.

Now, all this work will be carried out under archaeological and environmental supervision because the Peñón has heritage protection.

Where’s the money coming from? Where else but from the EU; all 100% of the necessary funding, amounting to 400,000 euros.

Lastly, you can jump up and down on the rock, but you can’t jump off it, unless you have 3,000 euros to spare, that is.

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

Keywords: El Peñón Facelift, EU Funding, Tourist Friendly, Antiquity, Temple

news, andalucia, granada, costa tropical, El Peñón Facelift, EU Funding, Tourist Friendly, Antiquity, Temple