Silvia Moreno Seville

Seville

Updated Sunday, January 21, 2024-21:34

The city of Almería extended in the Middle Ages along the Hoya, a ravine located on the edge of the historic city, between the

Alcazaba

and the San Cristóbal hill, which is crossed by the square towers of the

Jayrán wall

.

Over time, that

medieval neighborhood

became uninhabited and, for centuries, that urban area was transformed into an agricultural space that was filled with crops.

But as the years went by, the farmers left and everything was turned into a large open field into which rubble, garbage and old junk were thrown.

An uncontrolled

landfill

and a car parking area between the walls of a valuable monumental complex.

Today there is no trace of the abandoned wasteland and the landfill.

In its place are the

Mediterranean Gardens of La Hoya

, a spectacular park of more than 42,000 square meters in which the Almería City Council has invested 2.5 million euros, 80% co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. (Feder).

The space has been designed, projected and built with so much care, detail and respect for the history of the enclave that it has become the great Spanish urban and landscape project of this season.

The Mediterranean Gardens of La Hoya de Almería.FERNANDO ALDA

It's not just any park.

The arrangement of the trees and plants and the entire design of the space has been done to give "maximum protection" to the potential archaeological assets that are in the subsoil, as Juan Antonio Sánchez

Muñoz

, from the Kauh Arquitectura studio, explains to EL MUNDO.

Landscaping, author of the Mediterranean Gardens of La Hoya project together with

Vincent Morales Garoffolo

.

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It is known that there are archaeological remains meters below the surface of the park because, during the works, they were located using a

georadar

.

"If within twenty or a hundred years, the next generations decide that they want to carry out archaeological excavations to unravel the traces of the past, nothing that appears in the park today will be an obstacle or will damage the vestiges of the old medieval neighborhood that hides the underground" , details the architect Sánchez Muñoz.

Currently, there is no budget to do this work and, furthermore, one way to preserve the remains is through a project like this one.

Wild meadows of Mediterranean herbaceous plants have been planted that protect the soil, serve as a refuge for chameleons and attract all types of insects.

The 120 trees and

21,048 plants

of different varieties that have been planted are native.

They are also the ones that best adapt to the Mediterranean and arid climate of Almería.

And the lack of rain.

To select them , meticulous documentation work

was done

, reviewing old photos.

There are almond trees, quince trees, jujubes, citrus trees, mulberry trees and the white-flowered love tree, among others.

At the foot of the trees, wild meadows of Mediterranean herbaceous plants have been planted that protect the soil, serve as a refuge for

chameleons

and attract all types of insects.

"All of this within a framework of reflection on what a park is and what it is like today in the context of the global

environmental crisis

, in a heritage enclave like this one and with a

climate like that of Almería

," Sánchez Muñoz contextualizes.

The history of the place is "very important" for the project, the architect insists.

The most remote past is provided by the Alcazaba and walls of Cerro de San Cristóbal, with

more than 1,000 years of history

.

This complex was declared a Historical-Artistic Monument in 1931 and today is an Asset of Cultural Interest.

During the works on the park, several bolaños

(spherical stone projectile possibly used in the medieval sieges of the Alcazaba) were found scattered

and grouped together at a point next to the gate on the Jayrán Wall.

The most recent history of this enclave has also been pampered to the maximum.

Thus, some inscriptions

made in 1971 by JCG, which had to repair the canal system,

have been maintained .

"The project is full of

a thousand details

. Everything that has appeared has been incorporated," clarifies Sánchez Muñoz.

Another example is the remains of a

farmhouse

that was demolished in the 80s. When removing the rubble, they realized that the walls of this house had been built on top of others from the

medieval period

.

Discovery after discovery.

Construction of balates and terraces in the park.FERNANDO ALDA

In the park, the typical Almerian structure of

"paratas"

(the terrace for cultivation) and

"balates"

(the wall that contains it) of the agricultural estate that was established in the area in the 19th century has been maintained.

Precisely, the traditional dry stone construction of these walls is a technique that UNESCO declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Another key element of the project is

water

.

During the works, the system of canals and water splitters that farmers used in the past has been recovered.

To this end, two old irrigation pools

have been put back into use

.

There are also intermediate basins and basins that regulate the flow, in addition to various water fall systems that contribute to the "environmental and sound landscape of the site."

For Sánchez Muñoz, "the contemporary layer that we have incorporated is the environmental commitment" that the entire complex exudes.

This alliance with the environment is not limited to water, the type of construction, trees and plants.

Come to

enlightenment

.

In the park there is no trace of the typical streetlights because the night light comes from the ground.

"It is a low lighting that blends with the night landscape. We are close to the Calar Alto Observatory and there is a commitment to caring for the

night skies

," adds the architect.

Board obstacles

But getting to the image that the Mediterranean Gardens of La Hoya show today has not been easy at all.

The project began to take shape more than 15 years ago, with the then mayor

Luis Rogelio Rodríguez-Comendador

(2003-2015).

The witness was assumed by the next mayor

Ramón Fernández-Pacheco

(2015-2022) -current advisor and spokesperson for the Andalusian Government of Juanma Moreno-.

And it was the current mayor of Almería,

María del Mar Vázquez

, who finally inaugurated the park in November of last year.

In all these years, the Almería City Council, governed by the PP, has encountered some obstacles to being able to intervene in the area by the Andalusian Government, during the PSOE stage.

On the other hand, when the alternation occurred and the

popular

Juanma Moreno became president of the Board, after the regional elections of December 2018 things began to accelerate.

Now we have to fill the park with cultural activities that do not bother the 'neighbors': the animals from the sub-Saharan reserve that the CSIC has behind the Alcazaba

"The imposition of the project occurs from 2019," explains

Eloísa Cabrera

, second deputy mayor and councilor for Urban Planning and Housing, to this newspaper, who lists other interventions in the city of the Junta de Andalucía, such as the one being undertaken. now in the Alcazaba for an amount of 11 million euros and on the San Cristóbal hill, with 3.5 million coming from Next Generation European funds.

The mayor highlights that the Mediterranean Gardens of La Hoya are part of a broader project to

"reactivate" the historic center

of Almería that is being developed by the City Council in collaboration with the Junta de Andalucía.

The objective is to convert the Plaza Vieja, San Cristóbal, La Hoya, La Alcazaba and Mesón Gitano axis into a "tour of history and future" for the city.

Once the Hoya park has been inaugurated, the City Council now hopes to fill it with

cultural events

.

But, for now, the enclave has some

neighbors

who could be upset if there were concerts and loud music.

They are the animals from the

sub-Saharan reserve

that the CSIC has in the La Hoya Experimental Farm, which is behind the Alcazaba.

When the City Council recently proposed holding a concert, it was rejected because "

the goats

in the reserve

were stressed

," recalls Eloísa Cabrera.

Now, they are looking for a solution that will give peace of mind to the gazelles and fill the park with culture.