Alicante’s remains are kept in the Municipal Archives. Within the walls of the building located on Labradores street, there are documents from the history of the city of Alicante as well as documents from other municipalities in the province. Among the INFORMACIÓN newspaper’s extensive bibliographic and documentary collection, including the full newspaper archiveThe photographic background is of special importance.
Most of the photographs remaining in the Alicante Municipal Archive These come from some activity or function of the institution with the participation of the municipality or from a purchase or donation, both public and private.. There are other funds or special collections transferred as well as those of administrative origin.
One of the issues that the archivist himself brings to the agenda is the management of the material in terms of preservation, documentary, reproduction and public use. The first and most important task is the preservation of materials. Some compact furniture, planners and metal files have been allocated for this purpose in one of the archival repositories. Adequate environmental control (temperature, humidity and ventilation) and safety and fire protection measures have been established. The materials are placed in appropriate envelopes, folders, boxes and albums by a specialist company, according to the support type (glass, flexible, paper) and formats.
Santiago Llinares, technician of the Municipal Archives, is responsible for assisting every user who wishes to consult any questions, from the old press to their own family tree: “Our door is open to any user who wants to call us. We are open to everyone, starting from the Municipal Administration who requests the documents archived here, to people who are interested in a wide range of subjects. Anyone can pass through here, from university professors to students or old press reporters. “There are other researchers who come to look for information about genealogical families in the civil registry.”
Information about Alicante is found there, which causes it to have several common users: “Many people about the world bonfiresWe save a lot of money from holidays They come to document themselves when they have to prepare the Hogueras booklet.
The archive has two research rooms: one on the first floor for the historical documentation service, and the other on the ground floor for the study of the newspaper archive, library and bulletins. With 17 separate tables, each prepared for computer connection. There are eight warehouses responsible for preserving municipal documents, spread over five floors and equipped with mobile metal lockers. For this reason, they have installations and equipment for air conditioning, humidity control, security systems against theft and fire.
To encourage public use and distribution, they have enabled an online collection of documentaries where any user can access the information they need with a simple search. The database is prepared according to the search parameters, according to which the information is divided into the source of the collection, the year of publication of the photograph, the title (which allows documents to be identified using a keyword), subject or scope, geographical division. Access can be made via the following link: https://w3.alicante.es/cultura/archivo/colecciones-fotograficas/.
Susana Llorens, who received her PhD in History from the University of Alicante in 1999, has been managing the archive since 2010: “The value of photography as a document in the visual society is increasingly confirmed, The Alicante Municipal Archive has seen its funds increase through purchases or donations from individuals, but also through interesting purchases from the municipality’s photographic collections,” comments the archivist.
historical pieces
When we examine the photographic jewels in the archive, we encounter a series of works dating back to the mid-19th century. For this reason, The oldest image kept by the institution dates back to 1862 and is a view of the port of Alicante taken from the castle, with a mix of merchant ships and steamers arriving from all latitudes.Loading and unloading at Levante Wharf. This belongs to the municipality’s collection fund.
It is the second oldest painting dated by the official body, dating slightly later but also from the 19th century. About Montage of panoramic view of the Port of Alicante taken from the docks, assembled from three superimposed images by the photographer Nicora in 1881. At that time, very few people could hold a camera. It was considered a luxury item and therefore only people with a lot of purchasing power could own it.
One of the most important and rarely seen images was donated by photographer Francisco Sánchez and dates back to 1919. Alicante Central Market under construction. In the foreground, you can also see the growing presence of mule trams in the city. At first, the vehicles were open as in this image.
Among the historical artifacts obtained through donation: Photo of the aviation accident that occurred on June 26, 1925 in the city center when a seaplane belonging to the Lineas Aereas Latercoere company collided with Casa Carbonell on the Esplanade. and two crew members died due to the collision. It was donated by Francisco Ramos Martín in a much more comprehensive collection of photographs.
If there is one characteristic feature of observing photographic fragments from the past century, it is the ability to perceive how a place has changed. In one of Francisco Sánchez’s photographs, you can see the Plaza de Joaquín Dicenta, the current Plaza de la Puerta del Mar in 1925. Next to the Esplanade entrance.
Other striking photographs in the Municipal Archive collections are as follows: Shark caught in Tabarca in 1946, with a large tuna inside the marine animal; and an old Bonfire parade in 1963, in front of the old Madrid Station. Both correspond to the private collection of photographer Francisco Sánchez.
provincial prism
Although the archive belongs to the municipality, There are also some provincial documents from regions such as. Elche, Benidorm, Santa Pola, Calpe anyone alcoy. All by photographer Francisco SánchezIn the background you can see Benidorm’s Levante beach as it looked in 1953, very different from what it looks like today; Elche’s view in 1950; Also in the same year, the salt flats of Calpa; Canalejas viaduct in Alcoy in the mid-20th century; or what Santa Pola beach was like in the 30s.
It is surprising to see such different images from the same photographer in terms of time. With the collective intention to save the photographs of Alicante, a number of funds were invested, among them Francisco Sánchez. “It is a very important collection dating from the turn of the century to the 70s. He came from a family of photographers and it was a tradition to inherit the collections of other photographers.” Therefore, we find images that could not have been his own due to their age, but were inherited from other photographers from the turn of the century,” says Santiago Llinares, technician of the Municipal Archives.