- Granada.The Alhambra approves a new ticketing system to avoid more fraud episodes
- Interview.Rocío Díaz: "The Alhambra is Granada, but it is also the world"
The Alhambra , the most visited heritage complex in Spain, closed its doors when Madrid declared the state of alarm. But from the inside, the work has not stopped, at least that which concerns the conservation and protection of the monument. It is still too early to assess the economic losses caused by keeping Andalusia's main cultural and tourist theme closed for a month. From the Board of Trusteesde la Alhambra and Generalife know that these losses are recoverable, because when the monument reopens its interest will remain intact. In the public visit area, however, they wonder what the percentage of national and international tourists will be. The border closure, which could persist when the state of alarm is lifted, will reduce foreign clientele in the coming months. But the board's technicians believe that national tourism will absorb a good part of that gap.
Conservation and maintenance work on the palatine areas and gardens continues at its usual pace. At the headquarters of the Board of Trustees, located next to the old convent of San Francisco (current Parador de Turismo ), the number of workers has been reduced to a minimum. All of them work from their homes connected to telephones and internet networks. Who does go to his office every morning is the general director Rocío Díaz , who has completed her first year in office these days.
During his government, the Board of the Alhambra and Generalife has put in place one of the most complex regulations that have been addressed in recent years. The new ticketing system has managed to unleash one of the great problems that the monument was dragging. Now the system is fairer as intermediaries and previous reserves disappear. In fact, the so-called authorized agents, who until recently had the possibility of monopolizing a significant volume of tickets, have stopped operating. The regulations currently establish the sale through direct purchase. In this way a possible fraudulent use by intermediaries is avoided when trying to get a good part of them.
The state of alarm has provisionally halted works in Maristan , which had started last February. The recovery of the monument, located in the lower Albayzín, was awarded for just over 1.2 million euros. In this way, one of the commitments of the new Government of the Andalusian Government with the people of Granada was fulfilled: to reinforce the commitment of the Alhambra to the white neighborhood in front of it. On the other hand, at the end of last year the agreement was signed with the Granada City Council for the recovery of the Paseo de Romayla . The Board committed to invest 1.8 million euros to develop this project, prepared by technicians from the City Council. The municipal entity was also in charge of the tender whose documents were being finalized when the coronavirus health crisis broke out.
Darro shore
The Romayla promenade stretches along the bank of the Darro river, on this side of the Sabika Hill. The first project included joining the Rey Chico with the Chirimías, in front of the Paseo de los Tristes. The works being tendered now will connect the Carmen del Granadillo with the San Pedro aqueduct.
The Alhambra carried out two more emergency works until the state of alarm. The technicians worked in the plaza of the Carlos V Palace and in the Alhambra forest, next to the bed of the Fuentepeña ravine. Likewise, work was underway to rehabilitate the old facade of Peñapartida, the old Carmen de los Catalanes, open to the public through guided tours. The technical areas of the Board of the Alhambra and Generalife have in turn tendered the project for the restoration of the roofs of the Nasrid Palaces. In addition, the works for the intervention in the Bib-Rambla Gate had been awarded , which were about to start. Currently, and still in the dispatch phase, work is underway to rehabilitate the Hotel Reuma and to restore the south and west façades of the Palacio de Carlos V. All tenders and works will resume at their usual pace when the state alarm is repealed.
The same will happen with the cultural activities scheduled for this spring. Last March the opening of a temporary exhibition on the Bib-Rambla Gate was planned at the Casa Museo de los Tiros . The object of the exhibition was to present an architectural element that was part of the Nasrid past and which, after being transferred to the forests by Don Leopoldo Torres Balbás in 1933, was part of the Alhambra landscape. The sample has not been canceled. It will be inaugurated when conditions allow.
The state of alarm prematurely canceled the cycle of Guided Tours by Specialists , one of the most well-known and valued programs by people from Granada and visitors. The Day of Monuments and Historic Sites could not be celebrated either. The open house that was scheduled to be held was canceled. The motto this year was Shared Heritage. The Board of the Alhambra trusts that next year these two words will take on their full meaning.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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