Benidorm completes the intervention to recover the archaeological remains of El Castell

In just a few days works will begin for the location, recovery and enhancement of the archaeological remains of El Castell de Benidorm, as has announced today by the acting mayor, Toni Pérez. In a press conference with the acting councilor of Historical Heritage, Ana Pellicer, and the municipal engineer responsible for the project, Javier Cartagena, the mayor reported that this morning has signed the act of redefinition that marks the starting point of these works, "valued at 1.2 million euros and for which the Town Hall has received a grant of 500,000 euros from European funds through the line of aid for the protection or recovery of Valencian cultural heritage of the Operational Program FEDER 2014 -2020 ".

The mayor has remarked that this is a "very important action in which we have been working a year and a half", that "will be developed in the squares of El Castell, Santa Ana and Castelar", and that "generates many expectations" , since "the archaeological tastings made in 1993 with greater intensity and later in 2014 confirm the existence of remains of the structures and dependencies of a castle of which there is documentary evidence since the granting of our Charter of Poblament in 1325".

According to Pérez, "the actions proposed in this project will allow us to discover the remains under the pavement of the squares, investigate and document them, keeping the most relevant, putting them in value and explaining them to the public." Likewise, he pointed out that the samples carried out previously predict that "interesting remains from the historical and patrimonial point of view can be located, although we do not know what state they are in, since it is not necessary to forget that the documentation indicates that the fortification was destroyed by cannon fire 200 years ago and the ruins have been exposed to environmental and human deterioration for more than a century. " Therefore, "the relevance of the remains found will determine the total or partial musealization" of this enclave.

The mayor has stressed that this work goes beyond the recovery and enhancement of the remains of the fortress, as they include "the necessary intervention on the slopes of Punta Canfali, especially on its Levante face, and on the balustrade del Castell, damaged by the erosion of the sea ". At this point, he recalled that in 2008 he was already acting on the slope of the other side, which falls on the beach of Mal Pas.

The municipal engineer has indicated that at the beginning of next week the technical works of measurements and setting out will begin; while "the excavation itself will begin on June 12".

Phases of the project

The project, which must conclude "before November 15", taking into account the terms of the European subsidy, is divided into four lines of action. In the first, it will proceed to "the cleaning and clearing of the area in which the remains of the wall are located, on the side of Punta Canfali that coincides with the squares of Castell and Castelar". The second line, the largest one, is "the excavation of the Plaza del Castell, where the oldest levels of the defensive complex would be located based on the historical documentation and the archaeological intervention made in 1993".

In the third line of intervention, archaeological surveys will be carried out in the squares of Santa Ana and Castelar and in the viewpoint located further south, with the aim of confirming or ruling out the presence of remains of towers and other constructions; while the last section of the performance "focuses on the consolidation of the slopes of Punta Canfali".

In addition, the pavement will be renovated -which will be replaced by a finish similar to that of the Paseo de Poniente but only in white and blue- and the balustrade -which will maintain the current aesthetics, although it will be made of a more resistant and durable material-. Likewise, and as an improvement of the project, the contractor will install lighting throughout the entire Punta Canfali, and also banks, litter bins and lampposts in the field of action.

The mayor clarified that "although our initial forecast was to execute the second line of action in two phases to allow at all times access to the square and the viewpoint." However, the process to obtain all the permits and dispose of the funds, and the electoral period itself, have forced to reschedule the works in order to "comply with the deadlines set in the subsidy".

Project timeline

- December 2017. The plenary session, at the proposal of the local government, approves presenting itself to the call for grants for the protection or recovery of the Valencian cultural heritage of the ERDF Operational Program 2014-2020, with two archaeological intervention projects in El Castell and El Tossal , valued at 1.2 million and 500,000 euros respectively.

- July 2018. The Ministry confirms the granting of both subsidies, for the maximum eligible amount in each case: 500,000 and 205,000 euros respectively.

- December 2018. The Local Government Board (JGL) approves the final document of the 'Project of archaeological intervention and construction of the recovery and enhancement of Castell de Benidorm'.

- February 2019. The City Council asks Costas for "administrative authorization for the occupation of the lands of maritime-terrestrial public domain", an essential permit to be able to act in El Castell. That same month, works were tendered.

-  April 1. The plenary approves the budgetary amendment to address this project, El Tossal and the Universal Accessibility project.

- May 14. The JGL awards the works to UTE Orthem-Wenceslao García.