Finally, a contract has been signed and 2,73 million euros will be spent restoring El Cable Inglés in Almería.
(It’s the big pier that runs out to sea, at the left of the port at the bottom of the rambla).
Built 106 years ago by a British mining company, alledgedly by Eiffel, him of the Paris monstrosity, it was designed to allow mining trains to run out to sea and pour their wares straight into British ships which would carry off the mining wealth of the province.
The Eiffel connection seems to stem from when the original plans were discovered, with his name on them. However, historians really believe that it was one of his students who simply used the bosses headed notepaper. But why spoil a good story?
The works will finish in 2014, and will turn the Cable into a massive recreational pier running out to sea, with a walkway, historical museum, restaurant and amusement arcade inside.