CARLOTA ALESSANDRI
Carlota Alessandri was another pioneer of the tourism industry on the Costa del Sol at this time. Little is known of her background, other than her Italian origin, but she is remembered as one of the most charitable women in Torremolinos during the twentieth century.
Mother-in-law of the film maker and director, Edgar Neville - who once lived in the Plaza La Nogalera in Torremolinos - Carlota Alessandri acquired the Cucazorra farmhouse in Montemar in 1934 and turned it into a small hostel with seven rooms. She named the hotel El Parador de Montemar.
Alessandri, a staunch catholic, promoted the foundation of the Carmelitas de Montemar and she travelled to Rome to receive a blessing for the institution from Pope Pius XII. She donated land for the construction of a church, an old people's home, a kindergarten and a school, among other things, and she dedicated much of her time to helping the underprivileged. Carlota Alessandri, who died in May 1972, has a street named after her in Torremolinos.