The Alhambra and the Generalife

What are the functions of the Council of the Alhambra and the Generalife?

The Council of the Alhambra and the Generalife is in charge of the safekeeping, management and conservation of the Alhambra, the Generalife and the Palace of Charles V, together with all the buildings, forests, flower and vegetable gardens, and lands, as well as the establishment and development of the plans to be followed in their conservation, restoration, excavations and investigations and, in general, everything that relates, affects and can be executed within the boundaries of its grounds and surroundings.

How old is the Council of the Alhambra and the Generalife?

The first Council of the Alhambra dates back to 1914. At that time, the Spanish society showed an increasing concern to interpret and recover its past and documents.

With time and through different periods, efforts aimed at the conservation of the complex were made. In the mid eighties, with the Law of the Spanish Historical Heritage on the one hand, and the approval of the statutes on the other hand, the Council exists as an independent body of the Council of Culture assuming the competences in the field of culture on the basis of the statutory development.

What is the Law of the Spanish Historical Heritage?

Approved on June 25th 1985, the Law of the Spanish Historical Heritage "establishes a new definition of Historical Heritage and expands its reach remarkably. It includes personal and immovable properties, archaeological and ethnographic heritage, museums, archives and libraries run by the government, as well as the bibliographical and document heritage. Its aim is, in sum, to assure the protection and to promote the tangible culture developed by the action of man in the widest sense, and conceives tangible culture as a number of properties that have to be appreciated, without establishing limitations derived from its property, use, antiquity or economic value”.