Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada

At the request of the authorities of the city, a World Heritage Centre mission visited Grenada in January 1997 to study the requirements for the rehabilitation of the Albayzin quarter.  A report was prepared recommending that the authorities adopt an approach better adapted to the environment of the quarter, excluding any major interventions and associating all levels of the public sector as well as certain components of the private sector.  A meeting to elaborate a revitalization programme for the quarter associating all interested parties is under preparation.  It will be held in Granada in autumn 1997.

Furthermore, the World Heritage Centre was informed in March 1997 by a member of the Scientific Council of ICOMOS-Spain, that a building to be used as a festivities hall was under construction.  It is located at the bottom of the hill of the Alhambra, Place del Rey Chico, between the Alhambra and Albayzin.

This information was confirmed in April by the UNESCO Centre of Andalusia based in Granada.  The World Heritage Centre immediately alerted the national authorities and the Junta of Andalusia and requested technical advice from ICOMOS-Spain.  One of the problems raised is the redefinition, following the inscription of the Albayzin, of the overall perimeter of the area inscribed and the buffer area.

After having taken note of the report of the Secretariat regarding the situation of the Albayzin and the construction of a festivities hall at the Place del Rey Chico, the Bureau:

1) requested the competent authorities to undertake all efforts to ensure that the revitalization of the Albayzin quarter is implemented in accordance with the World Heritage Convention and other international conventions and recommendations in force;

2) expressed satisfaction that the global revitalization programme of the Albayzin quarter was being elaborated in association with all sectors concerned;

3) insisted strongly that the competent authorities undertake all efforts to avoid the degradation of the site through construction works and requested them to provide the Secretariat with a report relating the measures undertaken to remedy this situation so that the World heritage Committee may be informed at its twenty-first session in December 1997.


21st extraordinary session of the Bureau in 1997:
Following the session of the Bureau in June 1997, the work on the Rey Chico festivities hall situated between the Albayzin and the left bank of the Rio Darro had been halted and a UNESCO-ICOMOS mission was undertaken in November 1997.
The conclusions of the mission were the following:
- the building as such does not pose major problems;
- however, the use of the building as a festivities hall for 1000 people is incompatible with the site (access roads, traffic, noise etc.). It is recommended, therefore, that the use of the building be reviewed;
- areas adjacent to the building should be declared 'non-constructable' to enable the landscaping of the valley of the River Rio Darro;
- the management plan for the Alhambra, the Generalife and Albaycin should be revised and incorporated in the plan for the City of Granada. This could be supervised by a scientific committee with UNESCO involvement, as was recommended by the Bureau at its session last June. 

Having examined the above information, the Bureau recommended the Committee to adopt the following:
"The Committee endorses the recommendations made by the UNESCO-ICOMOS mission and urges the Spanish authorities to implement them. The Committee requests the Spanish authorities to submit a report on the progress made in their implementation by 15 April 1998 for examination by the twenty-second session of the Bureau."

Since the last session of the Bureau (twenty-first session, June 1997) and in accordance with the requests and recommendations of the Bureau made to the national authorities by the Secretariat, the preparations for the organization of a seminar on the revitalization of the Albayzín quarter have continued and intensified. Furthermore, the social revitalization activities have already begun to be implemented. Also, thanks to the intervention of the Director-General, construction work of the Rey Chico festivities hall situated between the Albayzín and the left bank of the Rio Darro have been halted.

Moreover, the Mayor of Granada requested the Secretariat to provide him with a list of experts to study the computerized simulation of the construction and assist in the successful realization of the impact study. The Mayor was advised that the National ICOMOS Committee should be contacted.

With regard to the constitution of a joint Spain-ICOMOS Scientific Committee, suggested to the authorities by UNESCO, the Secretariat was informed by the Permanent Delegation of Spain to UNESCO that the Direction General of Fine Arts welcomed this idea and that a final official reply would be received by the Centre shortly.