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There are times when the best way to raise awareness is to take out a cell phone at the right time and place. Occurred a few weeks ago in Escalona, ​​Toledo, when one of the tourists waiting to enter the castle of the town observed that stones were beginning to fall from one of the towers. His impulse was record the scenewhich ended up immortalizing the mere five seconds in which the structure crumbles in a cloud of dust, taking with it centuries of history. The video ended up going viral and leading to another debate: the conservation of the castles of Spain. At the end of the day Escalona It is not a unique case. Two collapses in one year. Escalona Castle is a stately fortress whose history can be traced back to Roman times and covers a period that extends from the 1st century AD to the 12th century. Neither that, nor its status as BIC, nor the City Council’s plans to restore part of the structure prevented two months ago, March 14the albarrana tower will collapse in front of a tourist’s camera. the castle Almonacid of Toledo It is also another heritage jewel of Muslim origin whose chronicle dates back to at least 848. Again, neither that antiquity, nor its enormous historical wealth, nor its protection like BIC prevented one of its most emblematic towers from would fall apart after several weeks of heavy rain. “We have reached this situation because they (the Board and the owners) did not spend a euro on historical heritage. In the end what we feared has happened: it has fallen,” explained the councilor, Almudena González, to The Country. @latinus_us Tourists recorded the moment in which the tower of the Escalona Castle collapsed, in Toledo, Spain; there were no injuries. The site dates back to the 11th century and in 1922 it became a Site of Cultural Interest. #Latinus #InformationForYou ♬ original sound – Latinus – Latinus How is it possible? That’s it the debate that began to gain strength after both events, especially because both occurred in a surprisingly short period of time, not far away and affected fortresses with high historical value. Added to that is the viral video of Escalona. The truth, however, is that both news have stirred up a problem that is by no means new. Although the vast majority of castles in Spain enjoy heritage protection since 1949in practice the state of conservation of the thousands and thousands of fortresses that are distributed throughout the Spanish geography is very “unequal”, as explains Miguel Ángel Bru, member of the Spanish Association of Friends of Castles (AEAC), to the SER. Do we handle data? Some. And they paint a scenario that clearly could be improved. In the same interview in which he was asked about the heritage of Castilla-La Mancha (where Escalona and Almonacid de Toledo are located), Bru provided a revealing percentage: only 20% of the castles have been rehabilitated and are maintained in an acceptable state. The remaining 80% present more or less serious conservation problems. Another interesting approach is provided by Hispania Nostra, an association that is dedicated to the defense of Spanish heritage and is known above all for its “Red List”which includes those elements “threatened by a serious risk of destruction, disappearance or irreversible loss of their heritage values.” If we search for “Castles and fortified architectural complexes” we obtain dozens and dozens of results spread throughout the country. And the selection increases if we include other types of structures, such as “forts, military buildings, towers or walls.” The percentage: 60%. Probably the most shocking fact was shared a few days ago by Bru on a talk with The Country in which he warned precisely about the state of conservation of a large part of the heritage: “Six out of every ten castles in Spain are exposed to collapsing, but if we refer to smaller landslides, partial falls, we would already be talking about eight out of ten.” In reality, the problem is not only that it is estimated that 60% of the fortifications are in conditions very far from what would be ideal. The real challenge is that we don’t even have a complete, closed ‘photo’ of how many structures there are. “The first catalog there is is from 1968, it is the one recognized by the Ministry of Culture, but it is completely insufficient because the number of records is very low,” duck the director of the AEAC. To solve this, the association has been developing for decades a list of defensive structures that already exceeds 10,000, but that does not mean that the study has ended. If we want to protect the castles, the first stepEssentially, it is to have a precise idea of ​​how many fortifications exist. The other figure: 2,807. Right now the catalog of Castles of Spain includes a total of 10,362 registered properties. That is the global figure, the most updated photo that the association has achieved. When we go down to detail, however, we obtain other more worrying ones. Of those 10,362 castles, only 728 They are in “very good” condition. 2,209 They are considered to be in good condition and 1,037 They are in a situation that technicians consider “regular.” In 537 cases the collective speaks of “consolidated ruins” and in 2,087 of “progressive ruin.” The entity contemplates still other scenarios, such as fortifications that have already disappeared or that have been altered. The big question: Why? How is it possible that, despite their high heritage, historical and even tourist value, and that they are protected by state regulations, there are so many castles with poor conservation in Spain? There are several factors that come into play. One is that not all buildings play the same cards. There are large historical complexes located in populated areas that have become symbols ‘pampered’ by the administrations. And also isolated fortifications or in rural areas that have not suffered the same fate. If we talk about … Read more