La association warns about the lack of signage, garbage in the barbican, or outdoor seating in the stretch of Calle Macarena
The Ben Baso Association of Teachers for the Dissemination and Protection of Heritage has counted the participation of 325 people in its XVIII Heritage Dissemination Day, held on April 26th and focused this time on the medieval walled enclosure of Seville, to delve into aspects such as urban transformation in the section of Islamic wall between the gates of Macarena and Córdoba.
In this sense, the association has emphasized that «the broad citizen response to the call once again shows the need and convenience of extending broad and correct dissemination of the rich historical heritage, which, however, receives unequal and deficient attention from the institutions responsible for its care and dissemination.»
The Islamic wall in the stretch between the Macarena arch and the old Gate of Córdoba would correspond to the extension of the fortified enclosure ordered by the second Almoravid sultan Ali Yusuf Texufin (1107-1143), completed in the second half of the 12th century through reforms and reconstructions by the Almohads.
In this way, the Ben Baso association states, based on the experience of the aforementioned deepening sessions in the Almohad fortified enclosure, that «the urban walls and gates lack the slightest identifying element, despite the requirement that the Municipal Heritage Master Plan established at the time»; warning, for example, that at the Macarena gate «the space uncovered a few years ago intended for the guardhouse is also not identified.»
THE OUTDOOR SEATING ON CALLE MACARENA
The sidewalk of Calle Macarena, next to the gate, is, according to the collective, «full of outdoor seating from the bordering bars, hiding and disfiguring the space of the wall»; while «the space between the wall and the antemural, the liza, is also not identified and although actions have been designed to access it, it is unknown when it will be possible to do so, while it is often seen turned into an improvised dump.»
«No plan has been envisaged for access to the walkways and, especially, to the White Tower, with no defined use and without the necessary identification of one of the most unique towers of the walled perimeter,» points out while awaiting the municipal promise to enable cultural and tourist visits in this section of the wall.
THE GATE OF CÓRDOBA
Likewise, Ben Baso warns that «there is no identification of the complex defensive system of the Gate of Córdoba, a unique and singular space in the network of the wall, which requires a dissemination and interpretation plan, while facilitating to the maximum the opening of the only original Islamic gate of the defensive system, in connection with the space of the temple of San Hermenegildo.»
Furthermore, the conservationist association recalls that the wall «continues beyond, in the Jardines del Valle, where not only does it lack identification, but it also requires urgent repair: the tapial is falling apart,» demands that they present to the City Council of Seville, governed by the popular José Luis Sanz, in demand for measures.
