“The Alhambra has turned out to be a powerful stimulating instrument for the culture and tourism in Andalusia”

“The Alhambra has turned out to be a powerful stimulating instrument for the culture and tourism in Andalusia. Since it has been managed by the Government of Andalusia, it’s faring better than ever. This management form has succeeded.” These were the words of José Rodríguez de la Barbolla, Ex-President of the Government of Andalusia, when he opened the inaugural session of the course Conjunto Monumental de la Alhambra y Generalife: 25 años de gestión autonómica (‘Monumental Complex of the Alhambra and Generalife: 25 years of independent management’), organized by the independent body of the Alhambra in collaboration with Centro Mediterráneo of the University of Granada.
This morning, María del Mar Villafranca, Director of the Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife, and Miguel Gómez Oliver, vice-rector of the Department for Continuing Education of the University of Granada (UGR), held the inaugural session of the course, organized in collaboration with the Centro Mediterráneo of the UGR. During this week, the subject of discussion will be the “qualitative leap forward” made by the Alhambra during the last 25 years “regarding management, administration, conservation and restoration”, as Gómez Oliver explained in his speech.
Furthermore, according to the Director of the independent body of the Alhambra, the objective of this course is to have an “introspective view” of the Monument from the moment on in which the Spanish Government transferred to the Government of Andalusia the management of the Alhambra, which, in her words, is “a benchmark not only on a national, but also on an international level”.
In his speech, Rodríguez de la Barbolla explained to almost one hundred subscribed course participants the proceedings of the negotiations about the transfer of competences from the Spanish Ministry of Culture to the Government of Andalusia: “It was a complex process, especially when it came to the Alhambra, because the Ministry of Culture did not want to transfer the ownership of the Monument. There had been different conflicts: beginning from the ownership of the complex up to considering it necessary to form a council to supervise how the Alhambra was being managed. At the end, what was made clear was that the Alhambra pertains to the Spanish and that the formation of a council was not necessary, because the Patronato would be the managing body of the Monument representing each of the institutions”.
After the Ex-President’s lecture, Víctor Pérez Escolano, architect and full professor at the University of Seville, focussed his lecture on the Management of the Heritage: concept and development. He explained that “cultural heritage management has to be interconnected with culture, education and science”. Furthermore, he demanded “an art of politics where the cultural heritage manager has not only the mission of transferring what he receives, but of developing and increasing the cultural legacy he is managing. The heritage is a transversal task and a developing and dynamic concept.”

Alhambra