The mayor attends a meeting on Monday to coordinate strategies and develop a joint candidacy to be recognized as World Heritage by the United Nations organization
Monday, June 16, 2025 �|� Viewed: 71 times
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Cartagena participates on Monday, June 16, in Tortosa in the international meeting promoting the joint candidacy of fortified cities in the Mediterranean to be recognized as World Heritage by UNESCO.
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The meeting, attended by the mayor, Noelia Arroyo, is part of the I International Conference of Hispanic Fortified Cities and Sites, bringing together authorities and experts from six countries: Spain, Algeria, France, Italy, Malta, and Tunisia.
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The mayor has explained that the meeting will serve to align strategies between cities and ICOMOS experts, with the goal of submitting the candidacy dossier and achieving its inclusion in Spain’s Indicative List, the first step towards UNESCO recognition.
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Arroyo has argued that this international candidacy «is not only seeking recognition, but also support and alliances to protect and activate a legacy shared by many Mediterranean cities.»
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Cartagena is a heritage reference for the project, with over 400 cataloged defensive elements: castles, batteries, barracks, walls, military roads, and watchtowers.
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Invited to the founding group for having one of the most extensive and complete defensive systems in the Western Mediterranean, Cartagena will also be represented by the Heritage Councilor, Pablo Braquehais, and archaeologist Jose Antonio Martinez Lopez, who is part of the scientific committee of the network.
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«We have recovered and transformed into interpretation centers the Navidad Fort and the Concepcion Castle; we are currently working on recovering the San Leandro Battery as an interpretation center for the fortresses, and we have plans to recover the Fajardo Battery with a quality hotel.»
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The opportunities offered by Cartagena’s defensive heritage «are enormous, but the effort required is also immense, which is why we need to count on private collaboration and mobilize all possible official aid,» according to the mayor.
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To achieve these goals, Arroyo advocates the opportunity to «seek alliances like the one we are working on, achieve the projection provided by UNESCO, and always work with planning.» In this sense, she has highlighted the importance of always having projects ready to apply for European funds and to «design clear roadmaps, like the one that the Ministry of Culture has just awarded to a team of Cartagena experts for the battery master plan.»
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Monday’s agenda includes a working meeting between mayors and institutional advisors. On Tuesday, a workshop will be held with citizen participation and international experts, where the roadmap for this serial candidacy to preserve and project the common fortified heritage of the Mediterranean will be defined.
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