Mira´s House and Museum

History: Francisco Mira’s House and Museum are dedicated to this great engineer born in Aspe in 1863 and display his work and the story of the reforestation process he carried out. The setting also houses the legacy of Dr. Luis Rivera, son of Francisco Rivera who was the engineer’s foreman. Additionally, it is the home of Guardamar’s Tourist Information Office.

Francisco Mira lived in this house during his first years in Guardamar – and so in 2001 in celebrating the centenary of the reforestation work – the building was named in his honour and became his house and museum. In spite of being named after him, however, there was very little about the engineer s work on display. When his legacy was uncovered in 2004, his family handed over some of his belongings from his home in Hondo de las Nieves and sold some of them to the Town Hall in Guardamar

Thus, his legacy was housed at its present venue and was formally opened as it is now – on the 21 March 2006

Content:
Area 1. This room is dedicated to Francisco Mira himself, with information on the policy and cultural context of the time.  There is also information on the School of Forestry Engineering where Francisco Mira studied and details of the Regeneration Movement.

This room also tells of Francisco Mira’s life and some of his most noteable work as well as displaying  some of his personal belongings such examples  from his technical library and his camera which he used for many of the photographs that can be seen throughout the house.

Area 2. This is the passage way that leads to the inner part of the house. This area is dedicated to the ‘Tree Festival’ celebrations which began in Guardamar in 1904.
The area also highlights the work of the Forestry Commission.

Area 3.   This room houses the bedroom of Francisco Mira and his wife Consuelo Atienza
Area 4. This is the setting for Francisco Mira’s office, where you can see several of his personal belongings, plans, projects etc This area also displays the large map dated 1897 which clearly shows the serious nature of the problem faced by the encroaching sand.

Area 5. This area contains a photographic summary of the reforestation work with   images of the process, both before and after. This area is also suitable for audiovisual presentations and for talks and information for visitors.

Area 6.  This is the stairway area. Before you climb the stairs, there are, on display, a collection of implements used by workers in the projects and this area is particularly dedicated to those who worked anonymously on the various projects. As you climb the stairs you will also see various photographs of the town as it was at the beginning of the 20th century.

Area 7. This room houses the office of Luis Rivera. It displays his books, his academic achievements, photographs of personalities from the social and scientific worlds – such as the King and Queen of Spain.  Luis Rivera, son of top forestry guard Francisco Rivera lived in this house for some years.

Area 8 The last room is the weather station where details were taken and kept. There is a panel with information on how the weather station worked.