A descendant of Jorge Juan, the illustrious sailor, naval engineer and scientist responsible in the 18th century for the design of the Arsenal and the first plans of the future neighborhood of A Magdalena, has been president of Icomos Espaa (International Council on Monuments and Sites), a body that advises the Unesco and decisive for the granting of the declaration to which Ferrol aspires. Jordi Tresserras Juan (Barcelona, 1967) will go to the city this week still as vice president to participate in the congress ‘Ferrol: World Heritage destination’, organized by the City Council under the MMIAH project, and as one of the writers of the file. There he assured that Ferrol’s candidacy is one of those that Spain should already support.
-Nobody better than a descendant of Jorge Juan to highlight the value of Ferrol …
-He had no children and we are descendants of his cousin. I have known Ferrol since I was a child, but with patrimonial eyes, since the review of the file was resumed, in the last mandate.
-Why does Ferrol have to be a World Heritage Site?
-The candidacy of Ferrol has been proposed for twenty-two years. There are more than a thousand World Heritage sites. And Unesco made a list of the gaps, the voids there are. Of castles, cathedrals or historical centers the list is saturated. And one of the aspects that I consider key is the spirit of the place. Ferrol, unlike other ports, is a construction ex new, taking advantage of the characteristics of this era, and with the modern ideas of the time. The jewel of the candidacy is the Arsenal, but in truth it is the entire planning of the city and the industrial facilities for shipbuilding. And Ferrol covers these two gaps: a city of Enlightenment and a port-city that maintains a heritage linked to shipbuilding. That’s a gap on the list: industrial heritage is missing. And the interesting thing is that it maintains the spirit of the place because that activity continues to exist. That is to say: the origin by which Ferrol was founded remains in spirit. And with a unit of constructions from that time, which makes it have that exceptional universal value. Ferrol generates that wow!
-That, then, is your differential factor?
-There is no port with the same characteristics of this time, and that makes it special. Ferrol is highly articulated with other cities, which were fortified at the same time and which could play a complement: Cdiz, Cartagena and Havana. It is possible to network with these cities, but the star element is Ferrol.
-And do you trust Ferrol to get the statement?
-S. The most important thing for a candidacy is to be a gap. What is missing? Not only the dossier It is important, a solid management body is needed, where all the entities are located, and that is the challenge for the future. The City Council has to pull, because heritage and culture can be an axis of development for Ferrol. But it needs to go hand in hand with the Navy, Navantia, the Dicesis, the UDC and a key ally, which is the Xunta.
-However, the Ribeira Sacra always comes first.
-There is a priority that not only responds to a decision of the Xunta. The one who has relations with UNESCO is the Government of Spain. And despite the fact that Ferrol was previously on the indicative list, that does not imply priority to leave. They prioritized the candidacy of the Ribeira Sacra and said that until it comes out, we cannot get one hundred percent with Ferrol. The candidacy could be ready to be the next one, but that will is needed. I would love to see Ribeira Sacra come out, because that would also give Ferrol more options.
-What’s left to do here?
-A management committee was set up, but it needs to be given a real shape with a plan of actions. And there is the challenge of citizen participation, which Unesco has been asking for since 2015, together with valorization programs. Maybe if he had shown up fifteen years ago, he would have got in without a problem, but now he demands more.
-In what term could one aspire to the declaration in the most optimistic scenario?
-Depends on the political agenda. Ferrol has this 2021 left to finish the file, because that roadmap needs to be completed. And it is to see when it enters the agenda of the Heritage Council and how the Council moves with the Xunta and the Government. If everything went well, the quickest thing would be that, if the revision passes in 2022, it would be in 2023, but it may take a few more years.
-Help that you are now president of Icomos Espaa?
-Help for knowledge. If I did not see the exceptional value in Ferrol, I would not have worked with the project.
The voice
JOSE PARDO
The congress organized by the City Council within the MMIAH project and held in El Jofre highlighted the uniqueness and values of the local candidacy
Yesterday, the uniqueness and value of the Ferrol complex that aspires to be recognized by UNESCO pivoted a good part of the interventions of the Ferrol: World Heritage Destination congress, held at the Jofre theater and broadcast live on the Internet. Experts and the administration joined forces to highlight the city’s arguments for opting for the international distinction, to which Ferrol has aspired for more than twenty years. In order to be recognized by Unesco as World Heritage, it is necessary to have citizen recognition itself, urged the Councilor for Historical Heritage, Eva Martnez, at the opening. And that can only be achieved, he continued, defending the exceptional values of some heritage assets from the 18th century that this international organization considers unique. The municipal head of Tourism, Mara Teresa Deus, emphasizes the necessary impulse for this candidacy to highlight the many wonders included in the proposal.
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