Albarracín in the Aragonese province of Teruel, Morella in the Valencian province of Castellón, Montblanc in the Tarragona province, Laguardia in Álava (Basque Country), Alcudia in Mallorca. The five nominees for a National Geographic (Spain) award. The category is Best Conservation of a Walled Historic Centre.
The magazine doesn’t give details as to how it arrived at this shortlist, the voting for which is up to the public. All good for participation, but such voting can often boil down to how much the nominees promote the award. It’s not a wholly satisfactory procedure, but the same can also be said of judged awards. Alcudia is one of three places in Mallorca included in the Los pueblos más bonitos de España network (Fornalutx and Pollensa are the other two). But this is an accolade which does appear to owe at least something to the pueblos in question proposing themselves – a bit like obtaining a Blue Flag for beaches.
Still, these form their own category of a nice thing to have, even if – as is the case with Blue Flags for Mallorca’s beaches – they are irrelevant. They can also be something of a double-edged sword, especially in the current tourism debate environment. Is any promotion either wanted or particularly desirable? At least with an award firmly geared towards the history of places, it may well attract a tourist profile that is desirous. On balance, it probably doesn’t do any harm but in fact does some good in highlighting efforts made for preservation (National Geographic uses conservation).
The five nominees, so it is stated, recognise a certain period of Spanish history. Where the walls of Alcudia are concerned, the 26 towers and four gates that were eventually built along the walls date back to 1298. That was when work started on the order of King Jaume II. The motivation was fear of pirate attack, though urgency was added some four decades later because of the conflict between the Kingdom of Mallorca and the Kingdom of Aragon.
The walls took a pounding from the siege of Alcudia during the Germanies War (Revolt of the Brotherhoods, 1521 to 1523) and proper restoration didn’t start until the 1960s. While the walls were rebuilt, what lay within them left much to be desired. A 1985 law of Spanish patrimonial history and a tentative declaration (1974) regarding artistic historical heritage ultimately led to the Council of Mallorca declaring the old town a Site of Cultural Interest within the category of historic sites in 2005. This meant a level of protection that was unique in Mallorca. Various regulations in respect of urban planning and aesthetics were all part of this protection.
Nothing’s perfect and one does hear complaints about imperfections, but there is little doubt that the old centre is way better than it once was. It merits being nominated. Whether it wins, we’ll wait to find out. If you wish to, go to https://historia.nationalgeographic.com.es/a/alcudia_21856. (This said, the link doesn’t appear to make a lot of sense.)
