English
Like in the second coming of the Lord of the Rings, ´The Two Towers´, in Seville, the most meaningful tower of the city and even of Andalucía, la Giralda, is threatened by a dark force. Its category of World Heritage Site could be taken away by the construction of another tower, Torre Cajasol.
During centuries, la Giralda was the tallest monument in Spain and, up until now, it still is in Seville. And I say up until now because, by 2012, it´s expected that Torre Cajasol, also known as Torre Pelli, the surname of the architect who came up with it, César Pelli, will be completed. This tower will be 584ft tall and, currently, a quarter of its total height is already built. This way, la Giralda, with its 320ft (331ft with el Giraldillo) would be the city´s tallest tower no longer.
But not only is the honour of la Giralda in danger but the whole group of which it is part of: the Cathedral of Seville, the Alcázar and the General Archive of the Indies, declared National Heritage in 1928 and World Heritage in 1987.
The ones who gave them this title also want to take it away. We´re talking about UNESCO. Two of its delegates, José Aguiar (from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre) and Elvira Petroncelli (from Icomos – The International Council of Monuments and Artistic and Historical Sites) visited the two towers to determine the visual impact that the skyscraper would have on the old town. Built in Aljarafe, although it doesn´t provoke a direct visual effect, it is a totally negative element for the historical landscape of the city.
Evidently, the representatives of UNESCO gathered with all the parties, in favour and against. On one hand, they were at the Torre Pelli, where the directors of Cajasol presented the architectonic project and their adaptation to the General Urban Plan. On the other hand, they met with the collectives who are against, the Citizens Platform against Torre Cajasol, also known as ´Túmbala´, who argued, through specialists in the matter, about how untenable carrying on with the skyscraper is (the total predicted cost is over 330m euros), as well as the terrible repercussion that it would have on the heritage.
Finally, these met with the Urban Council and the Mayor of Seville, Juan Ignacio Zoldo (PP) to warn him about the possible removal of the historical group as part of World Heritage. And although the subject has been dealt with certain secrecy, the World Heritage Council of UNESCO will dictate their verdict in a few weeks. Mr. Zoldo, seeing what´s coming towards them, has declared that “if I have to choose, I prefer the declaration of UNESCO”. Therefore, he´s looked for theoretical partners with whom he can face the possible damages in case that the works needed to be stopped.
We impatiently await the reply from UNESCO. Will La Giralda be part of the World Heritage no more? In any case, whatever happens, it will be a lesson of how not to carry out urban policies. It´s obvious that the city wants modern architecture, but not because of that do they have to carry out untenable and badly studied projects. New doesn´t have to be at odds with the old, it simply has to be integrated properly!
For more information: http://ciudadaniacontralatorrepelli.blogspot.com/
Find apartments in Seville from the top of la Giralda and enjoy the tower that, for centuries, has been the tallest tower in the city.
Translated by: aleixgwilliam
