The Government of Spain will invest 81.4 million euros in the rehabilitation, maintenance and beautification of the historical heritage of the network of Paradores de Turismo, a budget that comes from the Recovery Plan financed with Next Generation EU funds.
“Spain has an immense historical heritage within the network of Paradores de Turismo, monuments open to the public for which the Government is committed with a historical investment for its improvement and maintenance that tourists, and also residents, will enjoy. An investment in everyone’s heritage, like the ones we are financing thanks to the Recovery Plan for World Heritage Cities, on the Caminos de Santiago and on the Ignatian Way”, underlined the Secretary of State for Tourism, Fernando Valdés, at the presentation of the program at the Parador de La Granja de San Ildefonso (Segovia).
The rise of cultural tourism
Travellers who choose Spain as a cultural tourism destination have grown by 16% between 2016 and 2019. Those who, specifically, visit museums, monuments, churches and towns during their stay have also increased by 3.5%. “We know that the historical and artistic value of our heritage is a magnet for attracting tourists. That is why investing in heritage is reinforcing the tourist attraction of Spain and its wealth of destinations”, in words Fernando Valdés.
The planned actions affect 39 buildings classified as Assets of Cultural Interest -the greatest protection granted by the State- and a monumental complex, that of the old suburb of Alcalá la Real (Jaén). The beneficiary Paradores are spread over 12 Autonomous Communities (Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, Castilla la Mancha, Castilla y León, Catalonia, Ceuta, Madrid, Extremadura, Galicia, Murcia, Navarra, the Basque Country) and the autonomous city of Ceuta (see dossier attached).
Types of performances
The largest part of the budget (74.2%) will go to the conservation of facades, walls, towers and bastions, cloisters and churches, among others. Another 17% will finance the updating of the lighting systems of the monuments to gain energy efficiency and effectiveness, while 5.9% of the funds will be invested in landscaping projects, and the rest (2.9%) in the conservation of singular elements such as plasterwork, frescoes, sculptures or capitals, among others.
Turespaña, as the owner of the properties, will be the body in charge of managing this heritage conservation program for the Parador network.
For the director of Turespaña, Miguel Sanz, “the Recovery Plan funds give us a unique opportunity to intervene in the jewels of the Parador network. Castles, palaces, convents and monasteries that offer the traveller a unique and genuine experience, difficult to repeat in any other country in the world”.
The president of Paradores, Pedro Saura, has emphasized the need to preserve the rich architectural heritage that Paradores possesses. “It is one of our main assets of growing cultural tourism that must be promoted much more. Conserving it correctly, maintaining its authenticity while optimizing its enjoyment in terms of efficiency and safety, is crucial to being a magnet for tourism attraction and generating the local development that we want in terms of activity and employment”.
