The Americas in the Malaga memory of the Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País

Networks that must not be forgotten

photo_camera PHOTO/SEAP - Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País de Málaga

A few weeks ago, the exhibition "Barrio Obrero América: las primeras viviendas públicas en Málaga [1907-1937]", which was held in the exhibition rooms of the Sociedad Económica de Málaga, came to a close. Amongst the curious interpretations and readings that converged daily in this space open to culture, those that looked at the institutional experience as promoter of the Ibero-American Section (1917-1936) took on special prominence. This historic section had the objective of building solid cultural networks between Malaga and America, taking as its starting point the memory embodied in the forces gathered in those distant lands, in the American feat of mustering an extraordinary strength of solidarity to help the victims of the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the Guadalmedina and its banks in the early hours of 24 September 1907, the night of the "riá". Therefore, if we had to give an initial definition of the Ibero-American Section of the Sociedad Económica de Málaga, it is that of a fertile foundation for the preservation and transmission of the memory of the networks woven between the two shores, the American and the Malaga. 

It was not a spontaneous birth, it was not in the heat of the "riá", not even in the weeks that followed, where authentic scenes of uncertainty were experienced, as the writer Luis Cambronero recounts in his memoirs, crossing the muddy Alameda at dawn in a "barcucha" pulled by a "jabegote" for a few pesetas. The Ibero-American Section had to wait ten years for its birth, in 1917, when the working-class neighbourhood of América housed about twenty working-class families in its newly built houses. The hygienic and modern houses, beyond the very function that explains their birth of helping destitute workers, in themselves burst into the space as a testimony to the relationships woven, of which Malaga still preserves a couple of surviving vestiges in its chameleon-like urban planning. And with them burst in the street names, which sought to consolidate themselves in the everyday life of the city, such as Tampa, La Prensa, in honour of the newspaper that initiated the subscription to raise the initial capital that would give rise to the neighbourhood of América, Salta, Buenos Aires, América, Honduras and Rafael María de Labra. Notably, the last of the streets to be named was Rafael María de Labra. The logic of his naming might seem apparently simple, given his work as Senator for the University of Havana and, later, for the Economic Society of León, and even for his outstanding role in the revitalisation of the Spanish Economic Societies undertaken by the Republican politician Pedro Gómez Chaix. However, its true logic stems from the speech given by Labra on the podium of the Madrid Athenaeum, in which he laid the foundations and encouraged the national Economic Societies to be the driving force behind the fortification of cultural relations with America. Thus, on 4 December 1917, the republican Malaga newspaper El Popular informed the public of the Económica's decision to take up the baton thrown down by Labra. To this end, the front page reproduced the set of telegrams exchanged between the two politicians, in which Gómez Chaix announced to Labra: "Inspired by your wise recommendations and propaganda, our Society approved [a] regulatory reform and reorganised its Sections, devoting preferential attention to social endeavours, educational and cultural works, and affirming its intention to contribute to the promotion of Latin American relations". 

sociedad-económica-amigos-país-málaga-casa-américa

The bases of these relations were materialised in the streets and houses of the America neighbourhood, but the conviction of preserving and transmitting the memory of Malaga shared with America found its space for cultural dissemination in the Ibero-American Section of the Economic Society, being a pioneer among its counterparts and initiating the path of others of great importance, such as the Ateneo de Madrid. 

From then on, the Ibero-American Section, which slowly began to take shape in 1917, brought together literary figures, journalists and, in particular, the consular corps in Malaga, which became its second defining feature. The Ibero-American Section cultivated the memory of solidarity networks through the slow and thoughtful construction of a modern cultural channel, these networks being international in nature, for which it gave pre-eminence in its composition to the consular corps in Malaga, with consuls from the American capitals coming together. Therefore, if we had to define this Section for those who have never seen it, as were the visitors to our aforementioned exhibition, we could say that it was consolidated as a space for immersion, convergence and activity of the different consulates in favour of modern and uncorsetted culture, whether through exhibitions, the creation of a Spanish-American section within the library of the Economic Society or by giving informative lectures on its rostrum. 

Curiously, despite the dialectic involved in remembering the episodes that took place, today the exhibition "Barrio Obrero América: las primeras viviendas públicas en Málaga [1907-1937]" and the Casa América project converge in an element that takes us back to the institutional efforts that set this Section in motion: to preserve and transmit the shared memory between Málaga and America in a cultural key. 

Submitted by José Antonio Sierra, Hispanism advisor. 

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