The Town Council of Xaló approved the ruling of the Information Commission in the plenary session last week in which the green light was given to the plans for the complete refurbishment of the historic Giner mill. This is where the new cultural centre of the town will be located. A project that will involve an investment of 750,000 euros.
Once this ruling is approved, the next step will be the bidding for the project, which will probably take place in the autumn, as explained by the councilor of heritage, Gerard Fullana. Regarding the subject, the mayor estimated that the work could begin in January 2021.
The new cultural complex will house, among other facilities, a library, an outdoor auditorium and a museum area inside which you can see how the impressive system of millstones worked in the old mill.
The Giner mill is one of the four flour mills that are scattered along the river Xaló to take advantage of the driving force of water as energy to grind the grain. The hydraulic mills in this area are known as cocoa mills. This element is a small underground cave that housed the ‘rodet’, the tool that made the whole mechanism work.
This mill was already known because of documentation from the end of the fourteenth and early fifteenth century and it gradually adapted to the times of the enlightenment and the industrial revolution, evolving until around the 1970s when it ceased to function. It is, therefore, a unique testimony to the history of Xaló from medieval times.
Official chronicler
At the same plenary session, the special regulations for the treatment and distinction of the role of official chronicler/historian of Xaló were adopted. From this moment a set period of time is available for the proposal of people who want to occupy this position.
Bassa dels Arcs
Another of the agreements from the plenary session was the formal declaration that the ‘Bassa dels Arcs’ is to be classified as property of local relevance, thus enabling its inclusion in the municipal catalogue of heritage and protected spaces of Xaló, a document which is in the process of being drafted.
