The Minister of Culture and Sports, Patricia del Pozo, reported in the Culture and Sports Commission of the Parliament on the investment that the Andalusian government has been making since 2019 for the restoration and conservation of Andalusian historical heritage, amounting to over 71.2 million euros. This investment, as highlighted by Del Pozo, demonstrates the commitment of the government led by Juanma Moreno to the historical heritage of Andalusia.
In her speech, Del Pozo emphasized the continuous work carried out by the Ministry to preserve cultural assets in this region, which, as a relevant fact, has seven cultural assets and a natural asset recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage – plus 8 assets declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and 7 assets on the Indicative List. «We never stop investing in Andalusian heritage assets, and we must continue to do so because there are always pending interventions and needs to address.»
In this regard, the Minister of Culture pointed out that «only in the Alcazaba of Almería in this legislative period, 6.7 million euros have been invested«, in addition to the 1.9 million euros for the restoration of the Arab baths of San Pedro in Córdoba, the actions in the Archaeological Ensemble of Madinat al-Zahra – totaling more than 1.3 million euros – the restorations in the castles of Moclín (Granada), Bélmez de la Moraleda, Yedra, and Salvatierra in Jaén, as well as the castles of Sancho IV – 334,554 euros – and Niebla in Huelva.
In the province of Huelva, there is also an investment of 11.8 million euros planned to intervene in the former headquarters of the Bank of Spain, where the future Museum of Fine Arts of Huelva will be located. This intervention is complemented by actions in the Marbella hot springs or the Roman City of Singilia Barba in Antequera, as well as in the Trinidad convent in Málaga, where 5.3 million euros will be invested.
The Minister Patricia del Pozo, in an archival image, supervises the restoration process of a sculpture.
Likewise, the Minister has announced that in the monastery of San Isidoro del Campo, where work is being done on the structural consolidation of monumental buildings, a total investment of 7.7 million euros will be carried out. Once the intervention in this property, protected as a Cultural Interest Asset, is completed, new actions will be promoted to restore and open the monument to the public. In this space, Del Pozo emphasized, «we have invested almost 90,000 euros since 2019, and we will continue to progress in its recovery.» She also highlighted the intervention in the San Lázaro hospital, where the main altarpiece has been restored. Currently, an archaeological intervention is being carried out in this space as a necessary preliminary step for the drafting of the project for the rehabilitation works of this historic building.
The uniqueness of certain assets that are not owned by the Andalusian government, such as the cathedral of Jaén, the monastery of Santa María del Arrabal in Cádiz, the cathedral of Málaga, or the church of San Jorge and the Hospital de la Caridad, as detailed by Del Pozo, require, on the other hand, a collaborative effort with other entities that are the owners of these assets. «And in this line, whose objective is the recovery of Andalusian assets, we continue to work as well.»
In addition to collaborations with other institutions or investments with its own funds or European funds, the Minister of Culture highlighted an investment of over 19.5 million euros in Andalusian heritage through the Alhambra Plan, in collaboration with the Abadía del Sacromonte Foundation, the Archdiocese of Granada, the University of Granada, and the City Council of Granada. Just recently, the Minister inaugurated the restoration of the San Andrés temple in Granada, with an investment of 550,000 euros from the Alhambra Plan.