“The landscape of the Darro Valley must be protected from the perspective of Culture and Heritage”

This afternoon at the Palacio de Carlos V, the Director of the Council of the Alhambra and Generalife, María del Mar Villafranca, presented a book entitled “Towards a cultural landscape: the Alhambra and the Valle del Darro”. This book, produced in collaboration with Editorial Comares, summarizes various studies and articles about this river valley, which is part of the current urban and natural landscape of Granada and of its history. She also appealed to citizens and institutions to "effectively articulate legal instruments for the protection of the landscape, which is an inherent part of a very specific image of the Alhambra and the city".

The main inspiration for this book was “El Valparaíso, a river of gold”, a series of lectures organized by the Council of the Alhambra and Generalife in 2010, in relation to the Valley of the River Darro and the Alhambra. This event brought together some of the leading specialists on the Darro Valley and its complex cultural, social, anthropological, scientific and natural implications in relation to Granada, the Alhambra and its landscape. In this sense, Ms Villafranca said that "we have commissioned several studies that try to take a general overview of the protection of this area from the perspective of Culture and Heritage. We believe that collaboration between the different public administrations is essential and that particular emphasis must be placed on the role to be played by local councils in the defence and protection of national heritage through urban planning".

In her speech, Villafranca explained that the Council of the Alhambra and Generalife not only "recognizes the importance of the Darro Valley in terms of its authenticity and heritage values", but also considers it essential to "protect the valley effectively, to guarantee the preservation of the setting and the quality of the Alhambra Landscape".

The presentation of the book “Towards a cultural landscape: the Alhambra and the Valle del Darro”, which was coordinated by the Director of the Monument, María del Mar Villafranca, and its Secretary General, Victoria E. Chamorro, is just one of the activities on the programme of the European Landscape Conference, in which the Regional Government of Andalusia has been taking an active part through its Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport.

For more information, please see www.alhambra-patronato.es