Spain Culture News
The final curtain for the Albéniz Cinema in Málaga
By h.b.
May 16, 2008 - 9:54 AM

The famous Albéniz cinema closes in Málaga this weekend after 63 years of film, and well loved as a four-screen centre for independent film in Málaga over recent years.
The Málaga City Hall is to compulsory purchase the site of the building for six million € as part of the redevelopment of the area next to the city’s Roman amphitheatre.

There has been a last minute proposal from the City Hall to extend the life of the cinema by two months, but this has not been accepted by the owner, Irene Gómez, who has said that Sunday is the final curtain. She told la opinion de Málaga that she was sad at this difficult time and said that the City Hall had broken a verbal agreement that they could remain open until the redevelopment started. She said that staff had been handed their notice and there was no way back.

The Councillor for Culture, in the City Hall, Miguel Briones, said that the compulsory purchase was being carried out to renovate the cinema and that the main Sala 1 would be converted back into another theatre for the city.