Memories at the Cuesta del Rosao: La Loma in Albox opens a square with a mural of the 1973 floods
In the middle of its fiestas, La Loma opened a square where a house used to stand, with a tribute to the Fonda del Rosao and a mural about the 1973 floods.
Automatic translation: this article was translated with artificial intelligence from the original in Spanish. Read the original
Where there used to be a house, there is now a square with a memory. The neighbourhood of La Loma, in Albox, has opened a small square on the Cuesta del Rosao, coinciding with the start of its San Francisco fiestas (festivities in honour of St Francis). As the mayor, María del Mar Alfonso, explained on her social media, the new space improves traffic flow and safety “at a spot that has historically been particularly dangerous”.
But the square is much more than an urban improvement. “This square is also born to pay tribute to our history, to our people and to those places that are part of the identity of Albox,” wrote the mayor. The tribute has a name of its own: the Fonda del Rosao, “an establishment that is part of the collective memory of our municipality”. The children, relatives and friends of its owners attended the opening.
An inn that never closed for a single day
The story of the inn was told by Miguel Ángel Alonso Mellado in an article that can be read on the local forum Somos Albojenses. From 1937, the family known as ‘los Rosaos’ ran a shop that was “a great bazaar where there was a bit of everything” (“they would even sell you a toothache”, the text says) and that also served as a tavern. On 14 February 1975, the opening of the Fonda del Rosao, which had five rooms, was provisionally authorised. According to the article, its owners did not close for a single day in 40 years.
A mural so that 1973 is not forgotten
The square also features a mural that, in the mayor’s words, “represents the unity of a town”. It shows an image of the 1973 floods, “a tragedy that left a deep mark on Albox, but that also brought out the best in its people: solidarity, mutual help and the ability to get back up together when the road seemed hardest”. The mayor thanked Isaac, its creator; the Somos Albojenses forum identifies him as Isaac Sánchez Córdova, the painter who this summer signed another large mural at the Cuatro Cantones.
Because, as the mayor concluded, “towns are not built only with streets and squares; they are built with memories, with people and with the hearts of those who feel them to be their own”. From elValle Actualidad, we can only celebrate that La Loma has one more corner in which to remember where it comes from. Do you have a story or a photo of the Fonda del Rosao? Tell us about it.
