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07/05/2009 Archived Article: "SALAMANQUESARTE 2009: the project will be extended for another year."

Last year, with funds from the Gaucín Tourist Initiative Association (3000euros), and help exclusively for this project from the Diputacion de Malaga (3000 euros), CEDER de Ronda (3000 euros) and the Gaucín Town Hall (2540 euros)
400 geckos were made especially for this project.
Most of them were distributed free amongst all the children of Gaucín and to the 100 members of the Association. The rest were sold for a nominal sum well below their real cost to people who wanted to take part in the project. The result was 400 geckos on the streets of Gaucín, full of creativity and imagination; two television reports, and articles in 15 publications written in Spanish and English. More than 2000 postcards and 600 T shirts carried the name of Gaucín and the Gecko Art project to many parts of the world. Everybody in Gaucín noticed the number of tourists going through our street photographing the geckos on the walls, and in the bars and shops curious visitors were asking, ‘why are there so many geckos in the streets?’

Because of its success, this year the Association will give each class in the School and each Association of Gaucín, who wishes to participate, a free (paid by the Tourist Association) gecko 2 metres long to be designed and decorated and displayed in the streets of Gaucín, from May until November. Also, there will be geckos similar to those of 2008, which will be sold at cost price for those who wish to participate in this artistic project.
We ask all those who had a gecko last year to exhibit again in the streets, but this year everybody must put them a little higher, in places that are not accessible from the window grilles. Last summer 20 were stolen and in the last fortnight another 15 were stolen. And again posters and press and television publicity will bring visitors to Gaucín to admire the beauty of our town and countryside.
More than 500 people from Gaucín have participated in this project, which has attracted many tourists to our town, to help the local economy, and has put our town on the map. For more information call 647 510 385 or write to info@turismogaucin.com