Cementerio Inglés de Málaga

The Cementerio Inglés de Málaga lies on the Vélez road, just outside the old walls of the city. It is the oldest non-Roman Catholic Christian burial ground on mainland Spain. Its creation in 1831 was the work of William Mark, British Consul in Málaga from 1824 to 1836. His efforts brought a Royal Order from Ferdinand the Seventh that permitted the cemetery.

The cemetery covers more than eight thousand square metres and doubles as a botanical garden, home to unusual trees and plants. St George's Anglican Church stands among the graves. It began in 1839 and 1840 as a classical temple with Doric columns, and grew into today's church in 1890 and 1891. You enter through a Gothic gatehouse added in 1856. The graves hold notable figures such as Robert Boyd, Gerald Brenan and Jorge Guillén. The English Cemetery in Málaga Foundation, formed in 2010, manages the site. The Junta de Andalucía recognises it as a Bien de Interés Cultural, and it belongs to the Association of Significant Cemeteries of Europe.

Before 1831, a Protestant death in Málaga meant burial on the seashore at night. The city's consecrated Catholic ground was closed to Protestants. This ground gave them their first dignified resting place.