The Roman Amphitheater of Tarragona will once again enable the original access to the arena for visitors throughout 2024. This is one of the interventions that will be carried out in the monument during the next year, as explained in an interview with ACN by the counselor of City heritage, Nacho García. In the coming months, the monument's master plan will also be drawn up, which should set the guidelines for its management. García also trusts that a new collaboration agreement will soon be signed with the Generalitat, by which each of the two administrations will contribute 100,000 euros annually for four years for conservation projects of the Roman heritage included in the declaration of World Heritage.
For García, the maintenance and management of the amphitheater are one of the priorities of the legislature. He explains that the tender for the master plan is "about" to be published, which should "set the course at the level of maintenance and works that can be carried out in the coming years", as well as the "museum discourse." To carry it out, there is a subsidy from the Generalitat and the counselor hopes that it will be completed by the end of 2024.
At the same time, over the next year there is a municipal allocation of 150,000 euros that will be used to recover the original access to the arena and remove the current walkway, as well as to improve the stormwater evacuation system around the Triumphalis Gate. The head of municipal Heritage also adds that the public "will not be able to go up to the stands again" and does not establish a deadline for when this can happen again. In any case, he firmly assures that "there was never any security problem for visitors" when access was closed a few years ago, despite technical reports that warned of the fragility of the area.
The amphitheater is one of the monuments that could benefit in the future from the agreement that the City Council and the Generalitat are finalizing, by which each administration will contribute 100,000 euros annually for four years for the conservation of the monuments included in the declaration of Heritage of the Humanity. The current agreement expires at the end of the year and García affirms that "the will of both parties is to renew it." For now there is understanding on the essential issues, but the counselor points out that adjustments are being made. With the Generalitat, and specifically with Incasòl, they are also in talks to resume work on the wall, specifically in the section that affects the roundabout and the Fortí Negre, in the Archaeological Walk.
During 2024, the Heritage Department will address other projects, such as Ca l'Agapito. After some initial works that allowed us to fix the façade and part of the interior of the old medieval beguinage, the next step is to consolidate the upper floors and decide their function. The city council has an allocation of 100,000 euros to draft the project over the next year and the person in charge of Heritage hopes to be eligible for a subsidy to carry out the works. "The issue is knowing what we put there, there are three completely open floors," he details.
In the field of medieval heritage, Ca la Garsa will also begin. With an investment of 150,000 euros, García hopes to be able to carry out the necessary structural reinforcement work to be able to remove the existing scaffolding and reopen Talavera Street. "We have to make an intervention at a structural level so that it is safe to pass through there," he says. Looking ahead to 2025 and 2026, the objective will be to "value that space."
At the same time, work on Casa Castellarnau will begin this coming Monday. In the first phase, surveys will be carried out to check the state of conservation of the beams and carry out a first diagnosis of the building. Subsequently, according to the results of the checks, the most appropriate restoration project will be carried out.
Finally, regarding the Jans cemetery, of British origin from the 18th century, García states that the British consulate has not yet transferred it to the City Council. "There is an agreement on the table. I have asked for a meeting with the consul because the way it is written, I don't like it," he says. The document was agreed upon by the British consulate - owner of the cemetery and where English soldiers who participated in the War of Succession are buried - and the city's former government team.
The councilor accepts that the City Council is responsible for the maintenance costs but does not agree that it also has to cover the renovation works to adapt it to the entrance of visitors. "We will meet with the consulate to see if there are other possibilities," he says. And he advances that if there is no agreement they will look for a formula "to value it and explain that there is a cemetery there." "It must be explained because it is part of the history of our city, but it can be done without opening it," he concludes.
