Decision 45 COM 7B.200

Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro, a landscape of Arts and Sciences (Spain) (C 1618)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/23/45.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 44 COM 8B.21 adopted at its extended 44th session (Fuzhou/online 2021),
3. Notes with satisfaction the progress made by the State Party in clarifying the delimitation of the property and the submission of a request for a Minor Boundary Modification for the creation of a buffer zone to be examined by the World Heritage Committee under Item 8 of the Agenda of this session;
4. Notes the existence of GEOPORTAL as basis for a monitoring system for the property and encourages the State Party to strengthen this tool and develop a set of indicators clearly linked to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) and attributes of the property that foster integrated management and can alert when actions are required to preserve its state of conservation;
5. Requests the State Party to provide further details on the projects and studies being developed to improve the public space in the Paseo del Prado, to address the issues related to intensive use and the effects of climate change;
6. Also requests the State Party to continue its efforts to resolve the legal issues in order to finalise the listing of buildings, with a view to completing this process within a short period of time;
7. Further requests the State Party to develop a comprehensive interpretation strategy for the property as a whole, which is clearly based on its OUV and presents and promotes its title as adopted by the Committee at the time of inscription;
8. Also encourages the State Party to take the necessary steps to establish the Civic and Social Board as an independent association that might function in an efficient manner for community engagement;
9. Urges the State Party to reconsider the urbanistic and architectural design of the new building of the Niño Jesús University Children’s Hospital project, and to significantly reduce the number of parking spaces foreseen, before the project is approved for implementation, and to resubmit the revised design plans to the World Heritage Centre prior to taking any decisions that may be irreversible;
10. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2024, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 47th session.