Originally the Don Bosco house in Ronda was a private mansion. The last owners donated the house to the local Catholic Salesian congregation. From then on it was mainly used as a sanatorium for members of this religious order. The house is named after Don Bosco, the founder of the Salesians.
Private Mansion
In the mid-19th century, Ronda is the commercial epicentre of the Ronda Mountain Range. The city maintains close trade relations with all the towns in the region and, above all, with the “Campo de Gibraltar”. Ronda’s prosperity and the business opportunities it offers attracts nobility, wealthy merchants and the upper classes of Southern Andalusia. During the summer period Ronda becomes their favourite meeting place.
The mansion nowadays known as the “Don Bosco House” is one of the most emblematic buildings in the city. Its last owners were an upper class Spanish matrimony: the engineer Don Francisco Granadino Pérez and his wife Doña Dolores Gómez Martínez.
They used the mansion mainly as a summer residence, as they lived in Madrid. But as the years went by, the couple spent more and more time at their house in Ronda (Don Francisco’s birthplace), surrounded by family and friends.
Don Francisco and Doña Dolores died in 1932 and 1938 respectively. The couple didn’t have any offspring and decided to donate the house and other properties to the local Catholic Salesian Congregation, due to a great friendship with them.
Sanatorium
In 1939, the “Foundation Granadino of Saint John Bosco” is created by testamentary disposition. Its social purpose is to use the house in Calle Tenorio for of rest, healing and convalescence of the members of the local Salesian Congregation.
They name the sanatorium after Don Bosco, the founder of the Salesians. Its official opening is on 15 September 1940. The prime years are between 1946-1964, under the direction of Don Salvador Rosés. For 18 years he attends to the residents with an unparalleled affection and complete dedication. During this time, no less than 150 Salesians suffering from some kind of ailment come to seek help, both young and old. After a period of convalescence and total rest they return, happily and fully restored, to their studies or normal activities.
Over the years the house also had other uses. It served as a residence for university students under the tutelage of a Salesian priest, as a youth centre and as the headquarters of the Spanish Salesian Theatre group “TES”. It has also been a cultural centre with language and administrative courses sports events and workshops including woodcarving and embroidery. And not to forget the apostolic community activities such as religion classes and Eucharistic, which have been carried out consistently.
In 2008, the Don Bosco house closes as a sanatorium.
