Por Redaccion 
Twenty years ago, Vélez-Málaga lost Joaquín Lobato, an artist from head to toe who mastered many artistic aspects and managed to captivate not only a town but an entire nation, extending the literary, artistic, and cultural references of the Axarquía capital beyond our borders.
Two decades later, his memory remains very much alive. The vindication of our most prominent authors is a central axis of the Department of Culture and Heritage of the City Council. Therefore, the City Council, the Friends of Joaquín Lobato Association, and the El Palo Neighborhood Association have organized a new exhibition to remember and highlight the fantastic art of Joaquín Lobato.
Starting today, Friday, July 18, in the Joaquín Lobato Legacy Room at the Beniel Palace, he is honored with an exhibition in memory of the «El Palo Mural,» a historic painting that the Vélez painter created in 1985 in the Malaga neighborhood. For three years, in the Echevarría area near the old train station, the «Women» mural adorned the wall of a building.
The work, referenced at the Beniel Palace, was developed through an initiative of the El Palo Neighborhood Association to beautify the walls between the houses. In order to promote Malaga painters, drawings of women were obtained to be displayed on the walls. The Vélez artist added a touch of color and represented ideas, with the support of the Provincial Council, which paid for the painting materials, as well as the City Council of Malaga and its district board.
The issue with this mural arose when neighbors started calling it «the Pinocchio mural» due to the typical noses in Lobato’s drawings. The property owners felt offended, and unfortunately, three years after its creation, they decided to erase the mural forever. Today, only the memory remains.
Back to the legendary mural
In memory of Lobato and his work, the exhibition of the «El Palo Mural» is being held. «From the Department of Culture of the Vélez-Málaga City Council, we thank the collaboration of the Friends of Joaquín Lobato Association and the El Palo Neighborhood Association for developing a very beautiful initiative that remembers and honors the life and career of our neighbor. On this occasion, we remember him through his mural, created in El Palo,» expressed the Culture Councilor of the Vélez-Málaga City Council, Alicia Ramírez, to present the exhibition to the media. Ramírez encouraged residents and visitors to enjoy the artwork and its history, stating, «We can remember how that mural was, in addition to seeing the various legal and media complaints that were made to make the drawing disappear,» added the councilor.
«Joaquín Lobato is always present, especially in the year of the 20th anniversary of his passing. This room, with the invaluable help of his friends’ association, is always full of life. In fact, we are working on cataloging, digitizing, and archiving the entire legacy from the Culture Delegation. Since his legacy was handed over to Vélez, such extensive work had not been done. Soon we will call on the media to involve you in the work being done with Joaquín’s legacy,» Ramírez announced. Additionally, the councilor added, «We continue with the publication of the artist’s complete works in the Joaquín Lobato Library, by the prestigious El Envés editorial. The next volume will be released soon.»
On her part, Toñi Nieto, president of the Friends of Joaquín Lobato Association, thanked «the invaluable collaboration of the City Council in the dissemination and remembrance of our friend, a great person as well as an artist and professional.» According to Nieto, these types of exhibitions are very necessary to «defend that art is not destroyed, remains, and is not eliminated. I was fortunate to see this mural and then see it destroyed, it saddened me a lot, and today it is seen here through the exhibition, it is a pride for me and would also be for Joaquín.»
Other members of both organizations also attended the presentation, including Juan Jesús Martín, representing the El Palo Neighborhood Association, who added more context to the mural’s history. The work started «hand in hand with the architect Carlos Hernández with the idea of bringing El Palo to the streets, following what was done in Madrid. Three murals were made in addition to Joaquín’s, today only two remain. Joaquín’s was a daily gift.»
Martín recalled that the consent to the El Palo Neighborhood Association «was verbal and legally there was no basis to blame the building owners. Therefore, the mural was erased forever without being able to do anything about it.» Thus, Martín guaranteed that they will continue «fighting so that they can rescue the mural someday.»