The Anglican cemetery in Malaga is to be added to the Catálogo General del Patrimonio Histórico Andaluz, in English the general catalog of historic places, after the Andalucian Directorate General of Cultural Assets approved it’s inclusion as a Bien de Interés Cultural (BIC), location of cultural interest.
St Georges cemetery is located on around 8,000 sqm of land close to Malaga’s Plaza de Toros on the eastern side of the port, and was originally founded by the British Consul to Malaga William Mark in 1830 in response to protestant burials on the seashore in the dead of night, a practice he found disgusting and lacking in dignity.
Within the grounds of the cemetery there is also an Anglican chapel built in 1839, and expanded in 1891 to become the existing church servicing Malaga’s Anglican communion. The gardens of the cemetery double as a botanic garden with several rare specimens of tree and shrub thriving.
Inclusion as a BIC on the general catalog is aimed at ensuring protection of the graves, structures, decorative walls, and of the gardens. As mainland Spain’s first protestant cemetery, it has been described in the general catalog as a monument of “outstanding historic and architectural significance”.
It is expected the cemetery will be formally included in the general catalog within the next 12-24 months, although the procedure for registration requires the church board begin the process of protecting the premises immediately after being notified of the decision to start registration.
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